The Best of Both Formats
by The 18th Angel
Summary: Mainframe is about to get a lesson in family values...Virus style...(COMPLETE)
1. 01 - The Hunt

Legal Stuff: The people at Mainframe made and own ReBoot. I just like playing around with their characters.

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Author's Notes: 

-A big shout-out to chicketieboo for the season 5 theory that inspired this fic. Thanks.

-Also a big thanks to Ogre for all his advice (to the point where he's practically a coauthor)

-This is a S5 fic, starting immediately after Crouching Binome, Hidden Virus. It is *NOT* connected to 'Dig Two Graves'.

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The Best of Both Formats

By

The 18th Angel

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01 - The Hunt

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            "Prepare yourselves...for The Hunt!" Megabyte's evil laugh echoed through the Principal Office.

            "I can't believe how much I'm gonna delete him." Matrix growled.

            "First things first." Bob said. "We have to find the others and make sure they're all right."

            "But we know where Megabyte is now! We can..."

            "The two of us against him wouldn't stand a chance." Bob said. "We don't know enough about his new powers. We need to get all our people together, then we'll come up with something."

            "But if he gets to the Gateway..."

            "He won't. I'm not sure I believe he's *just* out to delete us, but he's not leaving Mainframe. Not yet."

            "How can you be so sure?"

            "If all Megabyte wanted was to get into the Supercomputer, he could have had Ray bring him there instead of here. There's something he wants, something he can only get in Mainframe."

            "Okay, and now for Final Jeopardy; what is this miraculous 'something'?"

            Bob shook his head. "I really wish I knew."

*   *   *   *   *

            "You'll never get away with this Megabreath!" Enzo yelled, struggling against his father's iron grip. Although it wasn't really his father any more. Welman Matrix slithered helplessly in a glass prison. With his robot body infected by Megabyte, he wasn't much more than a caged Null, unable to help his son.

            "As I believe I've told you before, Boy: Never is a very long time." Megabyte said. "But you wouldn't remember that, would you? Quite remarkable really, but not entirely surprising. If I had to peg one sprite stupid enough to leave his Icon in Game Sprite mode during a restart, it would be Enzo Matrix."

            "Oh yeah...well...If I had to pick one Virus basic enough to come back here after all the times Bob kicked his ASCII...it'd be you!" Enzo said.

            "Such language." Megabyte laughed. "Whatever would Phong say?" He cast a glance to where Phong lay, rapidly fading as his energy drained away. "Apparently nothing."

            Seeing Phong so close to deletion took the fight out of Enzo. He stopped struggling and hung his head.

            "That's better." Megabyte said. "Now just be a good little Sprite and you *may* live to see another second."

*   *   *   *   *

            Mouse had been typing in codes for what felt like milliseconds. AndrAIa sat with her back propped against the wall, growing more and more anxious. Every combination Mouse typed rewarded her with a very negative *BEEP*.

            "Crash it all!" She finally yelled. "Ah'm completely locked out!"

            "There's got to be something you can do, Mouse." AndrAIa said. "We have to help Phong."

            "Ah know sugah, but Ah'm out of options. Megabyte must have gotten some kind of new encryption powers in the Web. Ah can't crack his codes."

            "What if we just bust up the console?"

            "Ah don't think the Matrix Approach is gonna work here, honey." Mouse said.

            "Matrix?"

            "Sorry." Mouse said. "Didn't mean to cut on your boyfriend."

            "Matrix..."

            "You didn't hit your head, did ya?" Mouse asked. "Matrix. Ya know, big green guy, fake eye, rage issues..."

            "That's it!" AndrAIa exclaimed. "Matrix!"

            "Are you okay?"

            "I think I've found our way in, Mouse!"

            "How?"

            "Destroying the control panel won't work. But what if we just destroyed the door?" AndrAIa asked. 

            "Well yeah. That'd definitely get us in" Mouse said. "But Ah can't bust down a blast door and Ah don't think you can either."

            AndrAIa smiled. "Nope. So we just bring someone who can."

            "Ah don't follow."

            "I'll explain it in a nano." AndrAIa said. "For now, just cover your ears."

            When Mouse had covered her ears as tightly as possible, she nodded for AndrAIa to go ahead. AndrAIa took a deep breath and screamed. It wasn't like any scream Mouse had ever heard though. If the pitch had been slightly higher, Mouse wouldn't have heard it at all. As things were, the strange, almost subsonic scream reverberated through the hallway and bounced around inside her skull. Mouse fought the urge to let out a scream of her own; it felt like her eardrums were about to collapse. 

            It was all over in a few nanos. Mouse tentatively let go of her ears, hoping that the ringing in them wasn't evidence of permanent damage.

            "What in the Net was that?"

            AndrAIa smiled. "It's how you talk under water." She said. "It's a lot louder on land though. Matrix heard it."

            "Of course Matrix heard it." Mouse said. "Ah think people in *other systems* heard it!"

            AndrAIa smiled again. "But Matrix is the only one who knows what it means. He'll be along any nano."

*   *   *   *   *

            Dot was trying to come up with a strategy when a horrible, piercing scream echoed through the Principal Office. She cried out and slapped her hands to her ears. She was dimly aware of Hack and Slash doing the same. The sound dispersed soon after and silence settled over the corridor once again.

            "What in the Net...?" She wondered aloud.

            "Oh that sounded bad!"

            "Yeah really bad!"

            "Like someone was getting deleted!"

            "Yeah or worse!"

            "What's worse than being deleted?"

            "I dunno. But whatever it is, I'm sure He knows how to do it."

            "You're right."

            "Of course I'm right."

            "Boys, shut up for a nano." Dot said. "I need to think."

            "I still don't know what's worse than being deleted." Hack muttered.

            "Hey, she said shut up." Slash punctuated his reprimand with a quick slap to the back of Hack's head.

            "I was shutting up, I'm just saying."

            "You're not shutting up, you're still talking!"

            "Hey, you're talking too!"

            "I'm only talking to make you shut up!"

            "BOYS!" Dot yelled.

            Hack and Slash shut up with a last, "Sorry Dot", in unison.

*   *   *   *   *

            "Well...that was different." Megabyte said. Enzo barely heard it, however. With his arms pinned, he had been unable to give his ears even the marginal protection of covering them with his hands. Above him, the glass dome on top of the robot had shattered, releasing his father.

            "Dad!" He yelled. "Get away! Go get Bob!"

            Welman slithered to the floor and made for the air ducts. One of Megabyte's viral Binomes caught him halfway there, but dropped him immediately when Welman's Null body began to drain his energy. Welman wasted no time getting away. In a nano, he had disappeared into the Principal Office's massive ventilation system.

*   *   *   *   *

            Bob and Matrix uncovered their ears. Bob looked confused, but Matrix grinned. 

            "What is it?" Bob asked.

            "AndrAIa."

            Bob frowned and placed a comforting hand on Matrix's shoulder. "I'm so sorry Matrix."

            "Sorry?" Matrix asked. "What do you mean?"

            "Well...that scream." Bob said. "I mean...User, it sounded like they were torturing her."

            "No." Matrix said with a laugh. "She's fine."

            "Didn't sound fine to me."

            "Trust me." Matrix said. "It would take too long to explain. Long story short: She loves me."

            "Okay..." Bob said.

            "And she's somewhere in this direction." He pointed down a side corridor. "Come on!"

*   *   *   *   *

            "You're kiddin' right?" Mouse asked.

            "No." AndrAIa shook her head. "It really does mean 'I love you'."

            "Interestin' way to show that ya care."

            "Back when we were in the Games, he asked me how to say that in my language." AndrAIa said, smiling. "It was so sweet, I couldn't say no. The poor guy's head nearly exploded. And of course he could never actually say it back like he wanted to, but I can guarantee that he'll *never* forget what that sound means."

            Mouse had trouble imagining Matrix as 'sweet'. She had to remind herself that the renegade *had* been Enzo once. "Great. Now we just need a plan for when we get in there."

            "We need to get Phong to a doctor." AndrAIa said. "Beyond that...I don't know."

            "AndrAIa!" She turned to see Matrix and Bob running toward them.

            "Matrix!" She ran to meet her lover and embraced him tightly. "Thank the User!"

            Matrix smiled. "Well when I got your message I just had to come."

            "Megabyte's in there." Mouse said, interrupting the reunion. "He's got Enzo. And...Phong's hurt."

            "What?" Bob said. "How bad."

            Mouse looked away. "Ah...Ah think he may be deletin'."

            "What are we waiting for then?" Matrix went for his gun.

            "Hold on." Bob put a hand on his arm, angling the gun away from the door.

            "What?" Matrix asked. "There's four of us and only one of him. We can end this right now! Don't tell me you *still* think he can change."

            "That's not it." Bob said. "But he has Enzo in there. And if we go barging in, there's no telling what he might do."

            "And while we wait out here, Phong is deleting in there!"

            "I know, Matrix. But we..."

            "No!" Matrix yelled. "No more! I'm through planning! Megabyte's gonna get what he deserves, RIGHT NOW!" Without another word he pushed Bob away, lifted Gun, and turned the blast door into scrap metal. He stepped through the door before the smoke cleared. While Bob, AndrAIa, and Mouse rushed to where Phong lay, Matrix turned his attention on the grinning Virus in the center of the room.

            "Gun: Target. High-Ex." A red target appeared on Megabyte. "Let Enzo and Phong go!" He ordered. "We have some unfinished business."

            "Unfortunately, I've no interest in arm wrestling you again, boy." Megabyte said. Matrix was aware that viral Binomes had them surrounded on all sides. Of course, once he deleted Megabyte they would all return to normal.

            "Don't worry." Matrix growled. "You won't get close enough for that."

            "Before you pull that trigger, I think there's something you'll want to see." Megabyte gestured behind him, where the headless body of his father's robotic suit held a struggling Enzo. "Make any move against me and that robot will squeeze your 'little brother' until his head pops off." Even after this news, Matrix kept Gun trained on Megabyte for several nanoseconds. "What will it be?" Megabyte taunted him. "You'll never have a cleaner shot."

            The gun wavered, then dropped.

            "And that's why I'll always win." Megabyte said. "You'll never be ruthless enough to defeat me."

            "At least I'll never become you." Matrix said as the Binome guards took him into custody.

*   *   *   *   *

            "What are we gonna do, Dot?" Hack asked.

            "I don't know."

            "How are we gonna get out of here?" Slash added.

            "I don't know!"

            "Where's Bob?"

            "I DON'T KNOW!" Dot screamed. "I'm sorry." She said quietly. "I don't know what to do." It was true. She had no idea what to do. For the first time in as long as she could remember, Dot Matrix didn't have a plan. Everything had gone wrong so suddenly; she was still just trying to keep up. For Dot, not being in control of a situation was an unnatural and uncomfortable state of affairs. 

            --Attention!-- Megabyte's voice rang through the halls. --This message is intended for the Command.com. Dot Matrix, I have your friends at gunpoint. If you ever want to see them again, you will report back to the war room immediately. For every five microseconds that you continue to hide, one of your friends will be deleted; starting with your dear brothers.-- There was a pause before Megabyte came back on to clarify himself. --They count as one.--

*   *   *   *   *

TBC

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	2. 10 - The Captive

Legal Stuff: The people at Mainframe made and own ReBoot. I just like playing around with their characters.

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The Best of Both Formats

By

The 18th Angel

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10- The Captive

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            --Your first five microseconds begin now, Miss Matrix.-- Megabyte said.

            "Oh no, what are we gonna do?"

            "This is bad!"

            "Yeah really bad!"

            "Worse than that!"

            "Much worse!"

            "Hack. Slash." Dot said quietly. "Stay here."

            "What?" Hack asked.

            "But uh... we are supposed to protect..."

            "Yes, to protect you and always..."

            "Always stay by your side!"

            "And you've done that." She said. "You've both been wonderful. But I have to go alone now. If Megabyte sees you guys, he'll delete you."

            "But..."

            "We can't just leave you."

            --Miss Matrix. Little Enzo now has *four* microseconds left to process.--

            "You have to." Dot said. "Find somewhere to hide, and don't come out until it's all over."

*   *   *   *   *

            "I don't get it, Megabyte." Bob said. "You said this was going to be a hunt. I don't see you doing a lot of hunting."

            "You always were gullible Bob." Megabyte replied. "I knew that Guardian wannabe would try coming to me before I could come hunting for him." Matrix seemed to shrink a little, realizing how thoroughly he had played into Megabyte's hand. "The threat was all that was required."

            "So you don't want to hunt us for revenge and you don't want to get to the Supercomputer." Bob said. "What do you want."

            "I want what I've always wanted, Bob; the only thing worth having. Excuse me..." He turned on the PA system. "Three microseconds Dot." He turned his attention back to Bob. "Where was I?"

            "The only thing worth having." Bob said.

            "Ah yes. Well, I simply want what I'm programmed to want; Power. However, I've grown rather attached to Mainframe, and I'd hate to set out on my campaign of conquest until I've resolidified my standing here."

            "Uh-huh. And why the sudden interest in Dot?"

            The Virus smiled. "Well every King needs a Queen. And I've always had a special place in my CPU for Miss Matrix. I'm sure you can relate, Bob."

            "You're sick!" Enzo shouted. "Dot wouldn't touch you in a million hours!"

            Megabyte chuckled. "We shall see, boy. We shall see." He turned to the microphone. "Dot, my dear. The millisecond groweth late."

            "Enough dramatics Megabyte." They all turned to see Dot standing alone in the ruined doorway. "Here I am."

*   *   *   *   *

            Dot couldn't remember feeling more frightened in her entire life. Well, perhaps when she had stood there helpless as Bob was shot into the Web. But no, nothing compared to the terror she felt standing in this doorway without even the barest shred of an escape plan. She had given herself up to save the people she loved, and only now did she realize how foolish that was. Now that he had her, Megabyte was sure to erase them all anyway. 

            How could she have been so basic? *You can Never trust a Virus.* It was one of the few operating principals that had never failed her. How could she have forgotten it?

            "I'm here Megabyte." She said. "Now let them go."

            The Virus grinned. "Come now, Dot." He said. "You know me better than that. However, I'm not entirely without compassion. Since you surrendered yourself so quickly, I won't make you watch."

            He signaled to his guards, who grabbed Dot and dragged her out into the hallway. She just barely heard Megabyte's order. "Wait until you get my signal. Then delete them all."

            The fight went out of Dot. She had failed. Everyone she loved was about to be erased. And the User only knew what Megabyte wanted her for. Well, the User only knew; but Dot had a few suspicions, none of them pleasant.

*   *   *   *   *

            Megabyte departed with one last triumphant laugh, leaving them surrounded by a small group of Viral Binomes. The Binomes kept their weapons raised, awaiting their master's signal. Just as the radio crackled to life, one of the guards cried out in pain. 

            Suddenly things began to happen very fast. The other guards turned to see what had happened to their comrade. They found him with a large green Null on his shoulder, rapidly sucking up his energy. Before they could react, they came under attack.

            Matrix filled the room with bullets, trying to disarm rather than delete. Mouse charged forward with her sword and relieved the unmanned Null-bot of its arms before it could crush Enzo. AndrAIa passed on joining the fight in favor of shielding Phong. Bob used Glitch's file lock to immobilize their captors. 

            In nanoseconds, all the guards had been neutralized. Bob and Matrix didn't take any time to congratulate themselves. Running faster than anyone would have thought possible; they headed for the exit, arriving just in time to see an ABC lift off from in front of the Principal Office.

            "DOT!!!!" Bob yelled. 

            Matrix had Gun out, but he didn't dare shoot. If the ABC crashed, Dot crashed with it. All he could do was watch helplessly as it carried his sister away.

*   *   *   *   *

            The hospital wing was eerily silent. After what felt like forever, a '0' Binome in surgical scrubs came into the waiting room.

            "How is he?" Bob asked, standing up.

            "We were able to stabilize him." The doctor said. "And his condition has been upgraded from critical to serious." Bob frowned. He sensed a 'but' coming on. "But... Due to the immense energy loss Phong suffered, he's gone into prolonged sleep mode."

            "What does that mean?" AndrAIa asked.

            "If his condition doesn't improve...he may never wake up."

            "No..." AndrAIa whispered, clinging to Matrix for support.

            "Give us some good news, Doc." Mouse said. "Please."

            "...He's not getting any worse. And he isn't infected." The doctor replied reluctantly. "I wish I had something better to tell you, but..."

            "That's all right, Doctor." Bob said. "You'll keep us informed?"

            "Of course."

            "Thank you."

*   *   *   *   *

            With the Tor destroyed, it seemed Megabyte had taken to lurking in the massive structure's former basement, a huge network of tunnels that stretched underneath G-Prime. And it was into these tunnels that Megabyte's guards dragged Dot. As they went deeper and deeper into the tunnels beneath Mainframe, Dot became more and more afraid of what the future held.

            She wasn't an unobservant sprite, and she knew Megabyte had always had an...unhealthy interest in her. Hell, he had tried to trick her into marrying him. And now she was in his clutches. This did not bode well for her. However, she was determined not to show fear, not in front of Megabyte. No matter what he did to her, he would not have the power of fear over her.

            Eventually the tunnels opened up into a huge underground chamber. Megabyte was waiting for them, looking as smug and triumphant as ever.

            "Ah Dot." He said. "So glad you could join me."

            "What do you want Megabyte?" She demanded.

            "Well you of course." Megabyte replied. "Why do you think I went to all this trouble?"

            "Because you're insane."

            "Now don't be abusive, my dear. We have such a bright future ahead of us. Why spoil it?"

            "Don't kid yourself!" Dot snapped.

            "You don't seem to understand your position." Megabyte said. "All your friends in the Principal Office have been deleted. And I doubt any of those miserable Binomes have what it takes to pick up where they left off. Mainframe is mine now. We have all the time in the Net. I know you'll warm up to me eventually."

            "Don't count on it." Dot said. 

            "Oh well, you can't have everything." Megabyte said. "It doesn't matter that much. Whether you learn to accept me or not, you *are* mine now. Now and forever."

            He seemed about to continue when one of his guards called him aside and whispered in his ear.

            "They WHAT?" Megabyte growled. The little Binome cringed. "Report back to your station." He said. "We'll be having visitors soon."

            A thrill of hope and joy ran through Dot. Bob and the others were alive. They were going to come rescue her.

            "You were saying something about 'now and forever'?" She taunted Megabyte.

            The Virus growled in anger and frustration. "Very well my dear! It looks like we won't have time to do this the old fashioned way! HOLD HER!" The guards tightened their grip.

            Now fear gripped Dot. Megabyte just looked so insane. "What are you going to do?" She asked.

            "Oh nothing outlandish." He said. "Nothing grotesque. I just need to make certain assurances before the Guardian gets here. First, I'll be needing this!" He grabbed her Icon and ripped it off of her chest. He examined the Icon and for a moment seemed to be looking *into* it. "Exquisite." He finally said. "We're going to have such a beautiful child."

            *CHILD?* 

            "Now." Megabyte said. "We have to make sure you won't get away. Forgive me if I don't have much faith in your loyalty to me." Dot was still too shaken by his 'child' comment to form a response. As she watched in horror, Megabyte sent a small wave of energy through her Icon. The Icon changed instantly from its normal white and black to the same blue and green that appeared on Megabyte's Viral Binomes.

            "Now just hold still." He said. "This won't hurt...much."

            Dot had time for one last free thought before Megabyte placed the Icon back on her.

            *Goodbye Bob. I love you.*

*   *   *   *   *

TBC

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	3. 11- The Mother

Legal Stuff: The people at Mainframe made and own ReBoot. I just like playing around with their characters.

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The Best of Both Formats

By

The 18th Angel

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11- The Mother

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      "We'll enter the tunnels here." Bob pointed to a spot on the map where Megabyte's Tor had once been. "That's where we have the best chance of finding Megabyte. And wherever he is, he'll have Dot nearby. Once we're inside we'll travel in pairs. Matrix and AndrAIa go together, take the upper levels. Mouse, you're with me, we'll head for the lower tunnels."

      "What about us?"

      "Yeah, where do we go?"

      They turned to see Hack and Slash looking at Bob expectantly.

      "You don't go." Matrix said. "Six is a crowd."

      "Excuse me!"

      "We were talking to the Guardian!"

      "Just stay out of it!"

      "It is Bob's decision!"

      "He's right guys." Bob said. "We need someone to stay here in case Megabyte comes back."

      "Oh he won't do that." Hack said quickly.

      "Yeah." Slash said. "He knows we'll come to get Dot."

      "He'll just wait for us."

      "And let us come to him."

      "It's still better that we have someone here." AndrAIa said. "The fewer people we send into the tunnels the less likely we are to get caught."

      "Do you know the layout of those tunnels?" Hack asked.

      "Or how to get in past the guards?"

      "Do you?" Matrix replied.

      "I most certainly..."

      "Of course we..."

      "Sir, I am insulted!"

      "Insulted!"

      "We lived there for..."

      "For three..."

      "Four..."

      "Yeah at least four..."

      "At least four hours..."

      "Maybe more..."

      "Right, could be more..."

      "Guys." Bob stopped them. "If you have a point, make it. We're running out of time."

      "The point is..."

      "We know everything..."

      "Everything that is down there."

*   *   *   *   *

      Matrix found Enzo sitting in the waiting room of the hospital wing. Any other second, he might have just walked past. But something compelled him to sit down next to the little Sprite. 

      "Hey." He said quietly. "You okay kid?"

      "No." Enzo shook his head, on the verge of tears. "Megabyte's got Dot."

      "I know." Matrix said. "But we're gonna get her back. I promise."

      "It's my fault."

      "What?" Matrix asked. "Enzo; this is *not* your fault."

      "But she just...walked off with him." Enzo said. "To save me."

      Matrix sighed. "Well if that's true than it's as much my fault as it is yours." He said. "And I *know* you're not trying to pin this on me!" He managed to bring a bit of a smile to Enzo's face with that comment. "The only person to blame here is Megabyte, understand? And he's gonna pay for it, I swear."

      Enzo nodded. "What about Phong?" He asked.

      "The doctors are doing everything they can for him."

      "But what if it's not enough?" Enzo asked.

      "Well you know what Phong would say about that."

      Enzo nodded sadly. "That deletion is a normal part of processing. And in the end, what matters is how you spent your runtime, not how long it was."

      "Exactly." Matrix said. It never ceased to amaze him how alike he and Enzo still were in some ways. To the point where they could have almost the exact same thought. "But don't give up on Phong just yet. He's one tough old sprite."

      "I'm just so scared." Enzo said. "I...remember fighting Megabyte before, with Bob. But that wasn't really me; it was you. I can't even look at him without getting scared."

      "You think I wasn't scared of Megabyte?" Matrix asked. "You must not remember too well. I was terrified of him."

      "Then...how did you do it?"

      "I had Bob. And...Dot. Just like you do. Even when I was afraid, I knew they were there for me. It's all right to be afraid of him, Enzo. Heck, it's a good idea!"

      "But you're not. You're not scared of anything!"

      "There's a difference between not giving in to fear and actually not being afraid, Enzo." Matrix said. "Let me put it another way; when AndrAIa and I were trying to take you to Daemon, were you afraid?"

      "User, yes!"

      Matrix smiled. "But that didn't stop you from saving us, did it?"

      "You're right." Enzo smiled. "It...it didn't."

      "See."

      "So you're still afraid of Megabyte then?"

      Matrix frowned at that. "Not anymore." He said quietly. "Now I just hate him. But if you want my advice; it's safer to be afraid."

*   *   *   *   *

      They slipped into G-Prime quietly, or as quietly as anything could be done with Hack and Slash tagging along. 

      "How far to the manhole?" Bob whispered.

      "Twenty-seven paces." Hack replied.

      "It's twenty-*eight*." Slash corrected him.

      "No, I remember quite clearly. It's twenty-seven."

      "It is twenty-eight!" Slash insisted.

      "Guys!" AndrAIa hissed before they could get too loud. "It's not that big a difference!"

      They both turned out to be wrong anyway. The back entrance to the tunnels was at least twice as far as either had predicted. Finally they found it, a wide, rusty manhole that led down to the sewers. From there, Hack and Slash assured them there was a secret entrance into the tunnels under what was left of the Tor. Whenever Bob used to foil them, they would use the tunnels to sneak back into the Tor without Megabyte seeing them. The Virus never found out about the secret passage.

*   *   *   *   *

      Bob had to give credit where credit was due; Hack and Slash found the secret entrance to the tunnels without error. A secret door opened onto a stairway. One set of stairs led up to the higher levels and eventually the base of the Tor. The other led down into the maze of service tunnels in the lower levels.

      "Okay." He whispered. "Matrix, AndrAIa; up. Mouse; with me."

      "Oh no." AndrAIa said, looking behind her.

      "Bob, we've got a problem." Matrix said.

      "What is it?"

      "Ah think we lost our guides." Mouse pointed behind her, where Hack and Slash were nowhere to be found.

      Bob sighed. "Great." He shook his head. "We can't turn back now. Dot needs us. Scrap splitting up though; if we're going to get lost at least we should all be lost in the same place."

      "What about the moron twins?" Matrix asked.

      Bob considered that for a moment. Finally he shrugged. "They'll have to take care of themselves. They know the way home."

*   *   *   *   *

      Meanwhile, Hack and Slash were just beginning to realize that something was wrong. They had led the others to the tunnel entrance with no problem, but then a sound had distracted Slash. When he went to investigate, Hack followed. Neither realized at the time that Bob and the others weren't with them. Now they were thoroughly lost.

      "This is all your fault."  Hack said.

      "This is not my fault."

      "It is your fault..."

      "I am not the one to blame..."

      "You led us down here..."

      "I simply investigated..."

      "Now we're lost..."

      "You should have told them..."

      "They're lost..."

      "That we were getting separated..."

      "If you had just kept your mind on the job..."

      "If you'd told them..."

      "NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!" They finished together.

      A moment passed.

      "I'm sorry..."

      "I did not mean to yell..."

      "I just get very frustrated..."

      "I do not like these dark tunnels at all..."

      "Me neither."

*   *   *   *   *

      "Hold up a nano." Bob said. They had been wandering the tunnels for milliseconds with nothing to show for it. "We're just getting more lost. We need a plan."

      "No argument here." Mouse said. "So what's the plan?"

      "I...never said I *had* one." Bob said sheepishly. "Just that we need one."

      "Can't you hear anything?" Matrix asked AndrAIa.

      "Sure, lots of things." She replied. "But there's troops moving all over these tunnels, and the way the place is built, every sound echoes up and down the corridors. It's pretty much impossible to pick a single one out. And forget about following it even if I could."

      "So now what, Bob?" Mouse asked. 

      Bob sighed heavily. Everyone always seemed so eager to put him in charge, as if he had a clue what he was doing. Dot was the planner, the one who always came up with the brilliant ideas. Bob just made things up on the fly, and that wasn't an M.O. that would help them here. However, everyone expected him to come up with something, so he had to at least try.

      "Glitch: System Scan." Glitch reformed into a scanning unit. "Measure and track Viral energy."

      Glitch locked onto Megabyte's energy immediately. He was somewhere to the northeast, near what Bob assumed was the center of the compound. Unfortunately, glitch gave no indication as to which of the several hundred levels the energy was emanating from.

      "Okay." Bob muttered. "If I was Megabyte, which level would I go to? Lowest or highest?" 

      Given that the higher levels had probably suffered considerable damage when Hex blew up the Tor above them, Bob decided to try the lowest level first.

*   *   *   *   *

      "So your plan was basically trial and error?" Matrix asked.

      "You got a better idea?" Bob snapped.

      "Sorry." Matrix said quietly. "I just..."

      "I know." Bob said. "She's in here. And we're not leaving without her, even if it takes us all hour to find her."

      Matrix nodded. "So how many levels do you think we've done?"

      "Ah've been countin'." Mouse said. "We've done exactly fifteen levels, not countin' the ones we were at before we checked the bottom."

      "Fifteen out of what? A hundred?" AndrAIa asked. "This really could take all hour."

      "Look." Bob said. "You guys are the ones who asked me for a plan. I'm not going to make you stick with it if you don't want to. But personally I'm not leaving this place without Dot, so you can either help me or you can leave. I know this is pretty close to hopeless...and I won't think any less of you if you want to go."

      He stepped aside and gestured to the stairs.

      "Your choice. Abort, retry, ...fail?"

      Matrix took only a second to answer. Determination on his face, he stepped towards the stairs leading up.

      "Retry."

*   *   *   *   *

      "When we...find Megabyte...I'm...gonna throw him...down every...single...one...of these...stairs!" Matrix panted as they struggled to ascend yet another flight of stairs.

      "Not...if Ah...get ta him...first!" Mouse replied.

      "Hold up...a nano." Bob said, pausing on the landing. "How many...is that...Mouse?"

      Mouse took a moment to catch her breath. "Fifty." She said. "We should be right in the middle now, about three floors below where we came in. Why?"

      "I've just got a feeling about this one." Bob said.

      "It's louder here." AndrAIa said. "There are more troops on this level."

      "Figures." Matrix muttered. "It's the middle of the complex. Trust Megabyte to put himself in the center of everything."

      "Okay." Bob said. "Let me think...um...Mouse; think you can make it back to the entrance?"

      "No problem, but..."

      "Good. Go back up to the surface and get a message to Ray. Tell him to make a portal in the center of level fifty, lock on to Glitch if he can. I don't think we'll be able to get out any other way once we grab Dot."

      "Got it."

      "Be careful Mouse."

      "Ah always am, sugah." She replied with a wink. "Now you just go and get Dot, 'cause Ah'm gonna kick you ASCII if ya show up back at the Principal Office without her." She turned and headed up the stairs toward the secret entrance.

      When they could no longer hear Mouse's footsteps on the stairs above them, they turned and moved into the tunnels. It was slow going most of the way; every few steps they had to duck into a side passage to avoid patrols. Eventually, they came to a large, ornate door. Glitch's scanner went wild.

      Bob nodded silently at his companions. Megabyte was on the other side of this door, and somewhere nearby...Dot.

*   *   *   *   *

      They burst through the door. Matrix had Gun drawn. Bob held Glitch out in front of him, ready to fight. AndrAIa brandished her trident, venom dripping from her fingernails. Megabyte took all of this in with an amused laugh.

      "I'm impressed." He said. "To have made it this far is no small task."

      "Cut the chat, Megabyte!" Bob yelled. "We're here for Dot!"

      "Well then by all means, take her...if you can."

      "Huh?" Bob hadn't expected it to be that easy.

      Megabyte smiled evilly. "Dot." He called softly. "There are some people here to see you."

      Dot stepped out of the shadows behind Megabyte's throne. She wore long, flowing, blue and green robes. Her Icon had also adopted the Viral color scheme. 

      "No." Matrix whispered.

      "Go ahead Dot." Megabyte said. 

      "What are you playing at Megabyte?" Bob demanded.

      "Why, nothing." The Virus said. "If you love something, you should let it go." He turned to Dot. "Run along now."

      "No." Dot said. "I'm not leaving."

      "Please Dot." AndrAIa said. "Let's go home."

      Dot turned to her. "But I am home."

      Megabyte chuckled. "And if it comes back...It's yours."

      "She's not yours Megabyte!" Bob yelled. "You've just infected her."

      "Oh let's not quibble over semantics, Guardian." Megabyte said. "Dot is staying here. Just accept it."

      "Gun!" Matrix yelled. "Command Line: Uninstall!" His electronic eye rolled over and placed a glowing red target on Megabyte's chest. But before Matrix could fire, Dot stepped in front of Megabyte, right in the path of his shot.

      "Dot, move!" His sister stared at him blankly. "DOT!"

      "What are you going to do, boy? Shoot her?" Megabyte asked. "I think we already established that you're incapable of sinking that low."

      "Let her go!" Bob yelled.

      "Why should she go with you, when she clearly wishes to stay here with me?"

      "You won't get away with this Megabyte!"

      "Actually, Bob, it is *you* who will not get away. Guards!"

      Just as dozens of guards began swarming into the chamber, a portal opened right next to Bob. Ray Tracer leaned his head out and beckoned to them.

      "Come on!" He yelled. "This place is getting a little crowded!"

      "Where's Mouse?" AndrAIa asked.

      "She's already back at the P.O." Ray replied. "Come on, before it's too late."

      AndrAIa nodded and stepped through the portal. Bob and Matrix were somewhat more reluctant.

      "Dot!" Matrix yelled. "Snap out of it! Come on!"

      Dot frowned slightly. Then she turned to the guards. "What are you waiting for?" She said coldly. "Delete them."

      Her words seemed to paralyze Matrix, to the point where he could not even dodge the incoming laser fire. A lucky blast caught him in the side before Ray grabbed him by the arm and pulled him forcibly through the portal.

      "Come on, mate!" The Surfr yelled. "I can't keep this thing open forever!"

      "But...Dot..." Bob said quietly, almost to himself.

      Ray stepped out of the portal and grabbed his friend, staring him in the eyes as laser beams exploded around them. "You can't help her if you're dead, Bob!" He said. "There'll be another time."

      Reluctantly, Bob nodded and followed him through the portal just before it collapsed.

*   *   *   *   *

      The portal took them back to the Principal Office. Matrix fell to the floor, bleeding profusely from the gaping wound in his abdomen. AndrAIa ran to him and pressed her hands over the gunshot, trying desperately to stop the flow of energy.

      "Someone get a doctor!" She screamed. "HURRY!"

      The doctors rushed in and, with AndrAIa's help, carried Matrix to the hospital wing. Bob sank to the floor fighting back the urge to scream in rage and sorrow.

      "...no..." He whispered. "...Dot..."

*   *   *   *   *

      "What kind of idiots are you?" Dot demanded. "You let them get away!"

      "Calm down, my dear." Megabyte said. "It's only a minor setback."

      "That is not the point. They left a hole in our defenses a micron wide, and then let the Guardian and his friends escape. It's inexcusable."

      "You're right of course." Megabyte said. "Commander." A thin '1' Binome stepped forward. "How do you explain this breech of security?"

      "We found a secret entrance through the sewers. They must have come in there, Sir." The Commander replied.

      "And you had no knowledge of this entrance before now?"

      "No Sir."

      "Very well." In a flash, Megabyte extended his tentacles and stabbed the commander through the CPU, deleting him instantly. Smiling, he turned to the next Binome in line. "Congratulations, Major. You've just been promoted. See to it that the situation is remedied immediately. And I *strongly* suggest that you endeavor to locate any other hidden entrances to this facility while you're at it."

      The Binomes saluted and fanned out into the tunnels, leaving Dot and Megabyte alone. They turned and headed deeper into the installation, to the chamber just beyond the throne room.

      "You really are quite the strategist, aren't you My Dear?" Megabyte said.

      Dot shrugged. "I won't allow a soldier's incompetence to endanger us." She said.

      Megabyte sighed. "I wish I could put you in charge of my Legions, Dot." He said. "Nothing could defeat us. But soon, you will have a much more important job."

      "Yes." Dot said, gazing at the glass tube in the center of the room. Suspended in the tube, a small form was gradually taking shape. From a single line of code, it had already developed into a tiny, half-formed sprite; a process that would normally have taken minutes, compressed into a single second. Parts of the little bitmap bristled with blue and red Viral hardware, but it was already clear that, physically at least, the Sprite side would be dominant.

      "How is she doing, Herr Doktor?" Megabyte asked.

      "_Oh ist wunderbar mien fuehrer!_" The doctor said. "Everyzing is going according to ze plan. Give me anozer 5.03 milliseconds und ze incubation vill be completed!"

      "Soon she will be ready for the second phase." Megabyte said, turning to Dot. "And then she'll need a mother's care. Nothing can be allowed to harm her. Nothing. She is the key to the New Viral Dawn. Our beautiful, powerful daughter...Terabyte."

*   *   *   *   *

TBC

*   *   *   *   *


	4. 100- The Child

Legal Stuff: The people at Mainframe made and own ReBoot. I just like playing around with their characters.

*   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *

The Best of Both Formats

By

The 18th Angel

*   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *

100- The Child

*   *   *   *   *

      The dark purple game cube towered over Kits Sector, casting its shadow across the Principal Office. Inside the office, one Sprite, the last remaining member of the P.O.'s senior staff was at her wits end.

      "How long has it been?" Mouse asked.

      "Two milliseconds, ma'am." Specky said.

      "Bob's never taken this long in a game before." Mouse said. "There's somethin' wrong."

      "But the game's energy levels are normal."

      "Maybe it's just a long game." Ray said. "An RPG or something."

      Mouse punched the table in frustration. "We should never have let him go in alone!"

*   *   *   *   *

      Bob hovered in the air, scanning the horizon for his enemy. The User was somewhere nearby; Bob could feel his energy. Maybe he was hiding behind a mountain. Bob reached out and blew up the nearest one, just to be sure.

      The game was HydrasphereX, a fairly standard fighting game with one substantial twist: all the combatants were possessed of almost unlimited power. The User had picked his character, a short man with spiky blonde hair and a huge broadsword. At first, ReBooting didn't seem to change Bob at all. His Guardian uniform was replaced by a pair of faded blue jeans, a black t-shirt with a long sleeved white shirt underneath, and a bright red bandanna around the neck. But it didn't seem to give him any weapons. But two nanos into the battle, it became obvious that his 'weapons' just weren't visible on the surface.

      At times, the fight actually seemed like normal hand-to-hand combat, until Bob realized that the shockwaves from their punches were causing the buildings around them to explode. Soon, the entire city had been leveled, leaving them to fight in the air over a massive crater.

      "Where are you?" Bob yelled. "Come out here and fight!"

*   *   *   *   *

      "We are now goin' for millisecond three." Mouse said. "What is he doin' in there?"

      "Bob's still in the game?"

      Enzo was standing in the doorway, looking very small and very scared. And why not? In two seconds his sister had been kidnapped, his 'brother' shot, and his old friend put in a coma. If things didn't get better soon, they were going to have another Matrix on their hands.

      "You shouldn't be in here, mate." Ray said gently.

      "Well I can't just sit in the read only room and wait for something else horrible to happen!" Enzo snapped. "I'd go crazy!"

      "Where's your dad?" Mouse asked.

      "They're still rebuilding his robot. They told me not to bug them until it was done." Enzo said. "I promise I'll be quiet, just _please_ let me stay in here. I won't get in the way."

      Mouse smiled and shook her head exasperatedly. "Oh, all right sugah. Just don't..."

      "Energy levels in the game are dropping!" Specky yelled. "It's about to end!"

*   *   *   *   *

      Bob had the User right where he wanted him, pinned against a sheer cliff face. He brought his fists down over and over, cracking the rock behind them and driving the User further and further into the hard granite. The User's hair had already gone flat and faded from gold to purple; the end of the game couldn't be far off. But Bob barely noticed. He was focused entirely on his enemy, on punching the User as hard as he could, as fast as he could, until it felt like the bones in his hand would break. Because as long as he could keep his mind on winning the game, he could pretend he hadn't failed as a Guardian.

      But of course, he couldn't keep winning the game forever. Even before the system voice spoke, he could feel the game world beginning to dissolve. 

      "BASTARD!" With one final punch, the entire cliff collapsed around them.

      --GAME OVER--

      Bob stood near his apartment in Kits sector, watching the game recede into the sky. He was out of breath, with aching arms and bleeding knuckles.

      He knew he should go back to the Principal Office and check in with them, but he couldn't work up the energy. All he wanted to do was go back to his apartment and sleep for about an hour.

      He was about to turn toward his apartment when something in the distance caught his eye.

      "Glitch: Long-range Scanner." Glitch clicked softly, turning into a small telescope. Bob put the scope to his eye and focused it on G-Prime. A huge scaffold towered above the sector. Viral Binomes moved all over the scaffold, carrying construction materials and blueprints. They were rebuilding the Tor.

      Bob silenty returned Glitch to his arm. A thought occurred to him. He could cut through Baudway and be in G-Prime in microseconds, especially if he took his zip-board. It was probably a bad idea, but he had always been able to just zip into Megabyte's lair and get out without so much as a scratch. Why should things be any different now?

      "Let Megabyte waltz back into town, kidnap Dot, put Phong and Matrix in the hospital, rebuild the Tor, and get away with it?" His eyes narrowed dangerously. "I don't think so!"

*   *   *   *   *

      "I wanna go outside!"

      "Ach, sit still child!" 

      "NO! I wanna go play outside!"

      "Having problems, Herr Doktor?" Dot strode into the room.

      "Mommy!"

      "Frau Matrix!" The doctor cried. "Zis child, she is beyond my control!"

      "Why doesn't that surprise me?" She knelt down next to her daughter. It had been almost a cycle since Terabyte was initialized. Thanks to regular transfusions of her father's Viral Energy, she appeared almost five hours old. "What's wrong, baby?"

      "He wanted to give me a shot again!" Terabyte pointed an accusing finger at the doctor. "I don't want a shot, Mommy!"

      "I know, but if you don't get your shots every second you'll never be big and strong like your Daddy."

      "I don't care!" The little girl said defiantly. "I don't want to be big. I just wanna go out and play!"

      "Shh. Come here." Dot picked up Terabyte, rocking her gently. "I know you don't like the shots, baby, but you need them. Now just be a good girl and let the doctor give you this shot, then we'll go outside and play, all right?"

      "Promise?"

      Dot smiled. "Cross my heart."

      Terabyte sniffed quietly. "Okay."

*   *   *   *   *

      As always, Bob flew into G-Prime without incident. After fighting Daemon's infected Guardians, he had almost forgotten how easy it could be to sneak past Megabyte's guards. He was about to enter the tunnels and confront Megabyte when a movement in to courtyard in front of the Tor caught his eye. Dot was sitting on the steps before the massive front door. 

      Bob felt his heart leap into his throat. He dove for the courtyard.

      "Dot!"

      She looked up.

      "Oh it's you. What do you want, Guardian?"

      "Dot...it's me...Bob." He said. "I know you're still in there, Dot. The infection can't rewrite your personality. Please fight it, Dot."

      "Mommy, who is that?"

      Bob looked on, speechless, as a little girl of about 0.5 toddled over to where Dot sat. Except for a few...extra features, she looked exactly how Bob imagined Dot must have looked as a child. She had bright green skin and unruly, dark green hair, just like Dot's. But she also had neon green eyes with glowing red pupils and a large, red metal crest rising up out of her hair. There was even the slightest hint of blue beneath her green skin. She almost looked like...no...it couldn't be!

      "Who is that, Mommy?" The little girl asked again.

      "He's...he's a very bad man." Dot said, turning to the girl. "Would you go back inside now?"

      "But Mommy..."

      "Do what I say, Terabyte." Dot said firmly.

      "...Yes Mommy."

      "Dot...who...what...how...?"

      Dot stood up, glaring down at Bob. "Go away, Guardian..." A strange look came over her. "Bob...please...please leave."

      "Dot..."

      "Leave now, and don't come back. Because the next time I see you, I will delete you myself."

      "Dot..." She turned and followed her daughter into the Tor. "DOT!" He wanted, needed to follow her, to take her back and cure her. But he couldn't move. The doors slammed shut, leaving him alone. Unable to do anything else, he turned his Zip Board and headed back out of G-Prime.

*   *   *   *   *

      "We have been down here a very long time."

      "Too long."

      "Yes much too long."

      "Definitely much too long."

      Hack looked around the darkened tunnel, which looked exactly like every other dark tunnel they had seen in the past cycle. 

      "I think we are lost." He said.

      "No I know where we are." Slash insisted.

      "You said that last second, and the second before that and..."

      "Well I was wrong those times..."

      "And you're wrong now..."

      "I am not..."

      "You have no idea where we are..."

      "I know we are under..."

      "We're probably not even in G-Prime any more..."

      "Any nano now, we'll find the exit..."

      "I cannot believe I followed you down here..."

      A sudden noise from further down the corridor silenced both robots.

      "There it is again." Slash said, heading toward the noise.

      "Hey hey hey!" Hack grabbed Slash with all three of his arms and held him back. "Where do you think you're going?"

      "I just want to see what it is."

      "Oh...WELL I DON'T!"

*   *   *   *   *

      Mouse could tell something was very wrong the moment Bob opened the door to his apartment. Actually, she had known something was wrong when he didn't report in after the game. Seeing him only confirmed her suspicions. Part of it was the bruises and scrapes on his knuckles, but mostly it was the look in his eyes. They were empty in a way that she had never seen before. He barely even looked like Bob with those eyes.

      "Bob?" She asked gently. 

      Bob didn't seem to hear her. He didn't walk so much as stumble back into the apartment, leaving the door open for Mouse to follow.. The air of quiet around him was clearly the calm before the proverbial broadcast storm. Something boiled just beneath the surface, and she could tell that it was about to erupt.

      "Bob." She pressed on, hoping she could calm him down. "What happened in the game?"

      "Nothing." He said, barely whispering. "I won."

      "That was almost a millisecond ago. After a while we got to wonderin' where you were."

      "Oh; I was...around..." He said.

      "Bob what's goin'..."

      She didn't get to finish her question. At that moment, the bomb dropped.

      "DAMN HIM!!!" He slammed his already injured fist into the wall, cracking the plaster. Mouse heard another cracking sound as well; one that definitely didn't come from the wall. Bob didn't seem to notice however. He continued his assault on the defenseless masonry. "THAT BASTARD! HE CAN'T DO THIS! HE CAN'T!" He sank to the floor, dry, tearless sobs tearing through him. "He...can't..."

      "What happened? Where did you go?"

      "I was...at the Tor..." Bob managed to choke out a few words. "Dot...she...they...She's gone, Mouse. I've lost her."

      That felt like a blow to the chest. Bob was giving up? No...that couldn't be right. The Net didn't work that way.

      "No." She said, kneeling next to him. "We'll get her back, we just need more time."

      "You don't...you don't understand, Mouse...You...can't understand..."

      "Then tell me. Make me understand."

      "I...I can't." He shook his head. "It's...too awful."

      Mouse sighed. "Bob...you shouldn't a' gone there alone."

      "I had to...I had to save her...I...couldn't save her..."

      "Stop it." Mouse said. "You gotta stop doin' this to yourself. Bob Ah've never seen a problem you couldn't solve. I think the problem here is that you haven't slept more'n a few milliseconds since Megabyte got back. If you don't take care of yourself, you're just doin' his work for him." She sighed. "Here, let me take a look at that hand."

      Bob didn't seem to have the energy or the inclination to resist. He winced slightly when she took his hand; chances were something was broken in there. But she had no way of knowing for sure. Unless...

      Glitch sat on Bob's forearm as always. She wondered briefly if Glitch would even let her use it. And if she could still remember the correct command. It had been a while since she had learned to use a keytool, longer than she cared to think about. And she had, of course, never had one of her own. But maybe, just maybe, Glitch would understand that she was trying to help Bob and trust her.

      There was only one way to find out. She reached down and gently removed Glitch from its resting place on Bob's arm. The keytool didn't resist at all. So far so good.

      "Glitch..." She sought the right command. "Medical Scanner."

      Glitch clicked affirmatively and rearranged into a scanning unit. Focusing on Bob's hand, Mouse cringed. With his wire frame revealed, she could see at least four separate breaks in Bob's hand.

      "Let this be a lesson to ya. Walls have their own way of fightin' back." She draped his good arm over her shoulder's trying to lift Bob to his feet. "Come on, let's get you to the hospital. Damn place is gettin' way too much business lately."

      "What's the point?" Bob wasn't cooperating with her attempts to get him moving.

      "The point is to get these broken bones set so they'll heal right." Mouse said. "Unless of course you *want* that hand all twisted for the rest of your life."

      "Just...just leave me alone. Please."

      "And if Ah thought that's what you really wanted, you can be sure Ah'd do just that." Mouse said. "But Ah know you better than you think Ah do. Now come on."

      With considerable effort, she finally got Bob moving. Together, they hobbled out of the apartment.

*   *   *   *   *

      Dot held Terabyte's hand tightly, wincing at the enormous strength the girl possessed. It was almost enough to crush her mother's comforting hand entirely; and Dot knew the little girl would only get stronger. Now, however, she was still just a child, crying out wordlessly and gripping her mother's hand as unbearable pain shot through her.

      The transfusions always took about two milliseconds to take effect. When they did, Terabyte's rate of compiling speeded up to an alarming degree. The girl literally grew before her eyes. But the process was painful, as skin, bones, and muscle developed in the blink of an eye. The pain of physical growth, normally far too faint, and spaced out over too long a time, to be noticeable hit her with its full force at once.

      Terabyte's agonized screams echoed up and down the underground tunnels, causing guards on the opposite side of the compound to cringe. Dot herself shuddered, watching as her daughter's limbs lengthened, thinning into more adult forms. One by one, her baby teeth fell out, a perfect set of secondaries shooting up instantly to replace them.

      Finally, Terabyte fell silent. She slumped over, laying against Dot and sobbing quietly. She was no longer a little girl. She was at least 1.3 now, maybe older. 

      "Mommy..." She cried. "Why...why do I...have to do this?"

      "Shhh." Dot stroked her daughter's hair gently. They would have to cut it again; her 'hours' of growth had left the thick green locks hanging down nearly to the floor. "Shhh. It'll be all right."

      "It hurts, Mommy." The girl sobbed. "It hurts."

      "Is there perhaps a way this process could be made any quieter?" Megabyte stormed into the room. "Herr Doktor?"

      "I apologize, mein fuehrer. But ze process is not a painless one."

      "Then can't you keep her quiet?" He turned on Dot, who frowned slightly.

      Terabyte buried her face in Dot's robes. She had learned early on to be terrified of her father. The last thing she wanted was to provoke his anger. Dot, on the other hand, had no such inhibitions.

      "She's in pain." She said. "The least you can do is let her cry about it!"

      "I don't appreciate these spats of impertinence, my dear." Megabyte growled threateningly. "That girl exists for one purpose. You're job is to keep her out of my way until she can fulfill that purpose, which includes keeping her quiet!"

      "She's a child! She..."

      "She is a Virus! We do not cry over a little discomfort. Now either find a way to keep her quiet, or I will!"

      He turned and stormed out of the room, leaving Dot to care for Terabyte. Despite her loyalty to Megabyte, Dot didn't like him. She didn't like the way he treated their daughter. She even suspected at times that she hated him. What was it the Guardian had said? What did he mean by 'Infection'? 

      Sometimes, late at night, strange memories came to her. Memories of her master's enemies. The mermaid Game Sprite, the big man with his missing eye, even the Guardian. And others, a boy, similar to the one-eyed man, a woman with pink skin and fiery red hair, and more, Sprites and Binomes, even a Virus. She almost remembered a time when they had all been friends, when any of them would have risked their lives for her, and she for them.

*   *   *   *   *

      "Here. It's down here." Slash said, pointing to a T-junction in the sewer pipes.

      "This is not a good idea." Hack muttered. "This is a bad idea."

      "Hello!" Slash called "Hell-"

      "What are you DOING?" Hack slapped a hand over Slash's mouth, silencing him. "What if that's not a friendly noise?"

      "It does not sound mean."

      "How would you know?"

      "I have a very good ear for these things."

      "You don't have ears!"

      "Listen I..."

      "No. Listening to you is what got us lost in the first..."

      Hack fell silent as a shadow emerged on the wall before them. As it crept toward them, the shadow grew larger and larger until it towered above both robots. Hack and Slash huddled together as the monstrous shadow approached. It was upon them; any nanosecond it would round the corner and attack. They screamed, looking up to see their assailant. But there was nothing there. Gradually their gaze fell, stopping just above the floor. A little floating ball with two beady eyes and a short tail stared up at them. 

      "Scuzzy?"

      "Scuzzy, what are you doing here?"

      Scuzzy growled. The dome on his head lit up with a view of Hexadecimal stepping into the gateway for the last time. 

      "You've been down here ever since?" Slash asked. Scuzzy nodded quickly. "Do you know the way out?" Another nod.

      "All right then." Hack said. "Lead the way."

      Scuzzy shook his head, actually his entire body, violently.

      "What's wrong?"

      Once again Scuzzy's dome lit up, this time with a picture of Megabyte.

      "He is right." Slash said. "We cannot get past Megabyte."

      Everyone was silent for a while. Suddenly, Scuzzy growled again, his tail wagging quickly.

      "What is it?"

      Scuzzy concentrated and lit up his dome again. This time, the video showed Bob. But a younger Bob, sometime just after he arrived in Mainframe. He was flying on his Zip Board in Floating Point Park. Across from Bob was a huge robot with four arms, heavy armor, and weapons bristling all over.

      As they watched, Bob lifted his pistol and fired at the robot, blowing it up. When the smoke cleared, Hack and Slash saw themselves standing where the huge robot had been, Scuzzy floating between them. 

      The screen went dark and Scuzzy grinned at them. A moment later, finally realizing what they had seen, Hack and Slash smiled as well.

*   *   *   *   *

      "You're lucky." The doctor said, putting a splint on Bob's hand. "Clean breaks like this heal fast."

      Bob was silent for a moment. "How are the others?" He finally asked.

      "Mr. Matrix is going to be fine." The doctor said. "He just had a flesh wound. He should be back on his feet in a few seconds"

      "Or less, knowin' Matrix." Mouse said.

      "But I'm afraid we need to get Phong to a better facility. We just don't have the resources we need here."

      "Mainframe's a closed system again." Bob whispered. "We can't send him anywhere until we deal with Megabyte."

      "Well then I hope you deal with him soon." The Binome said. "Every nano counts." He left to attend to the more urgent patients

      "Can't you talk to Turbo?" Mouse asked.

      Bob shook his head. "I told him to cut communication until we dealt with Megabyte. ...We're on our own. I failed."

      "Would you stop that? You haven't failed." Mouse said. "Ah don't know what you saw at the Tor but it can't be as bad as all that."

      "I saw Dot...willingly serving Megabyte. Isn't that enough?"

      "And you think that's you're fault?"

      "Of course it's my fault!" He yelled. "I was an idiot to think I could change Megabyte. If I had just deleted him right from the start, none of this would have happened!"

      "That's true." Mouse said. "Of course, in that case, you probably would have gone right back to the Supercomputer instead of stayin' in Mainframe and you never would have gotten to know Dot at all. Oh, and you'd have probably killed Hex too. So no one could have stopped Daemon and we'd all be dead now. Ah don't know about you, but Ah'll stick with things the way they are, thanks."

      "I know you're trying to make me feel better, but..."

      "Bob, you did what you thought was right. Ah've never know you to do anything else."

      "But I was wrong!"

      "That's life! You can't be right all the time. You're not the User. You're just a Sprite; better than most maybe, but you're not perfect."

      "But I should have been able to save her! What's the use of all this Guardian training if I can't even protect the woman I..."

      "Go ahead." Mouse said. "Say it. You love her."

      "I...I never told her."

      "It's not too late, you know." She sat down next to him. "She's still alive. And we can get her back; but not if you give up!" She sighed. "You know, a long time ago, you told me not to give up. Ah didn't listen; and that's one of the few things in my life Ah regret." 

      "What's your point?"

      "My point is that if Ah had listened to you maybe then Ah'd have one of those right now." She pointed to Glitch. "And if you listen to me now, you can get Dot back. But if you give up and let Megabyte win you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

*   *   *   *   *

      Terabyte was in the courtyard learning how to walk again when her world began to fall apart. Her legs were suddenly twice as long as they had been this morning, meaning that she had to teach herself how to use them so she wouldn't fall over whenever she walked.

      Her mother sat nearby, ready to catch her if she fell. Terabyte took comfort in her presence. With every step, her footing became steadier, more confident.

      Suddenly her father came outside.

      "Get back into the Tor." He ordered.

      "What's wrong?" Her mother asked.

      "There was a power surge in the sewers right below us. Something's coming."

      Before her mother could respond, the ground a short distance away exploded. A huge shape shot up through the pavement. When the dust settled, a robot stood next to a gaping hole in the courtyard. Its dark purple armor was covered with weapons and it held its four hands in nasty-looking fists. The robot had two Icons, one on each of its huge shoulder guards. 

      "Oh, it's just you." Her father said, sounding bored. "Good to see you've finally pulled yourself together. 

      The robot glared silently at them. Finally it spoke in a deep, rumbling voice.

      "WE ARE HERE FOR DOT."

      Her father frowned.

      "I see." He said. "You've decided to go from two traitors to one slightly larger traitor. Don't think that will stop me from deleting you." He extended his claws and charged. The big robot calmly swept him aside with a flick of its two left arms.

      Megabyte went flying, landing on the front steps. He staggered to his feet.

      "This time I'll make sure *no one* puts you together again!"

      "WE DO NOT HAVE TIME TO FIGHT YOU." The robot said. "ANOTHER TIME PERHAPS." The robot moved like lightning, crossing the courtyard to where Terabyte and her mother stood in a nanosecond. It grabbed her mother in all four hands.

      "Let her go!" Terabyte yelled. She took hold of one of the robot's arms and wrenched it off with ease, crushing the metal limb in her hand. The big machine seemed surprised, but it didn't waste time trying to fight back. Extending a jet pack from it's back, it shot into the sky and flew toward the Principal Office. 

      Terabyte was about to take off in pursuit when her father's hand closed around her wrist.

      "Get back inside!" He ordered.

      "But Mommy..."

      "NOW!"

*   *   *   *   *

      "Let me go!" Dot screamed, pounding ineffectually on the robot's armor.

      "NO. WE ARE DAMAGED. WE MUST GO BACK TO PHONG FOR REPAIRS."

      "Fine! You go back, just drop me off here."

      "BUT THE FALL WOULD KILL YOU."

      "Then go down to the ground and drop me off there you idiot."

      "NO, BOB WOULD WANT US TO BRING YOU BACK."

      "I don't care! I..."

      --WARNING! INCOMING GAME! WARNING! INCOMING GAME!-- A large purple game cube began to descend right in front of them.

      "See." Dot said. "You don't want to get caught in the game, do you?"

      "BOB WILL GO TO THE GAME." The robot said after a moment of thought. "WE WILL MEET HIM THERE."

      Quickly, they moved under the falling game.

*   *   *   *   *

      "What am I going to do, Mouse?" Bob asked. "I need her."

      "Then you're gonna be the hero and rescue the damsel in distress." She said. "We just need a better plan to get to her, that's all."

      "And Megabyte?" He looked away, his voice dropping to a barely audible whisper "And...Terabyte?"

      "Terabyte?" Mouse looked confused. "Who's that?"

      He looked up, struggling to find a way to tell Mouse what he had seen. 

      "She..."

      --WARNING! INCOMING GAME! WARNING! INCOMING GAME!--

      "Two games in one second?" Bob asked. He sighed. "Figures."

      Mouse smiled. "Come on Guardian. We got a job to do."

      "You're going into a game, Mouse?"

      "Well in case you hadn't noticed, we're runnin' out of candidates. And Ah'm, not about to let you go in alone again after what happened last time."

*   *   *   *   *

      AndrAIa met them underneath the game. 

      "Let's get this over with." She said. "I practically had to restrain Matrix to keep him from coming in.

      "Where's Enzo?" Bob asked.

      "Don't worry. I left him with Ray." AndrAIa said. "What happened to your hand?"

      "Nothing."

      "Okay." She said, obviously not buying that for even a nano.

      The game hit the ground level, preventing her from inquiring any further. They were standing on a dance floor. Multicolored lights swirled around them as a machine in the corner pumped a cloud of fog around their feet.

      "Glitch..." 

      "Hold on." AndrAIa said. "I've seen this one before. This is "Dance Tournament". Looks like the 80's Mix. We win by dancing against the User. We just need to get more steps right than he does. Best of three rounds."

      "All right then, let's do it." Bob said.

      AndrAIa nodded and tapped her Icon. "ReBoot!" After a brief green flash, AndrAIa was clothed in faded denim shorts and a matching jacket, with an electric pink t-shirt underneath. A pair of mismatched socks stuck out from high-top sneakers adorned with various designs in puffy paint. Her normal seashell earrings had been replaced by huge hoops and her hair was feathered far more than was decent. 

      "Oh very nice." She muttered, looking over her clothes. 

      Mouse smiled. "Ah'm almost scared to try. ReBoot!" She clicked her own Icon and waited to see what the game gave her. She ended up in a miniskirt and a loose t-shirt that always left one of her shoulders exposed no matter how carefully she adjusted it. A multitude of necklaces and bracelets adorned her neck and arms. Pink leg warmers completed the look.

      "Well it's not that bad, Ah guess. You're turn, sugah."

      Reluctantly, Bob tapped his Icon with his good hand. "ReBoot!"

      When the light faded, Mouse and AndrAIa burst out laughing in unison. Bob's clothes weren't that bad, but the accessories made the outfit. Their attention was first drawn to the makeup. Lipstick, blush, mascara, and heavy eye shadow covered Bob's face. In addition to the makeup, his fingernails were brightly painted and he wore more jewelry than AndrAIa and Mouse put together. Even his hat seemed a feminine touch. 

      "Are you *sure* shooting the User won't work?"

      "Just hang out, guys." AndrAIa said, stepping onto the Dance Platform. "I'll take care of this one." A moment later, the User materialized on the platform next to her, a thin man in torn jeans, a striped t-shirt with the sleeves removed, and a loose necktie. He glared angrily at AndrAIa as the music started. 

      Bob used Glitch to scan the game's energy, though it was clear that AndrAIa would win. Halfway through round one, she had yet to miss a step. Bored, Bob turned in a slow circle, scanning the entire game cube for anything interesting. Suddenly, he found something *very* interesting.

      "You guys...keep dancing." He said. "There's something I need to check out."

      Before they could respond, Bob hurried off the dance floor, following the energy spike that had just appeared on Glitch's scanner.

      Glitch led him into a storeroom in the back of the building. Stacks of boxes conspired with dim overhead lights to obstruct his vision; something large lurked just inside the room. He couldn't be sure, but it looked a little bit like Hack...or maybe Slash. Yet it was bigger than both of them put together. There was one possibility that came to Bob's mind.

      "Glitch:" He whispered. "Energy Ram." Hack and Slash alone were distractions at best, even when they were Megabyte's minions. But they were only parts of a whole. And that whole, a battle machine called Clash, had nearly deleted him once. 

      "BOB!" Sure enough, Clash rolled out of the darkness. But the big robot didn't look like it was attacking. More than anything, it looked scared. One of its arms had been torn off and several gunshots adorned its armor. "SHE HAS A GUN BOB! SHE SHOT US!"

      "What? Who?"

      Before Clash could answer, Bob heard the click of a gun behind him. He turned and saw Dot pointing a small pistol at him.

      "Didn't I tell you what would happen the next time I saw you, Guardian?"

      "Dot...Put the gun down, Dot."

      "You didn't have the balls to come back yourself so you sent your robot, is that it?"

      "Dot listen to me..." Bob began.

      "No!" She pulled back the hammer on her gun. "Say goodbye, Guardian!"

      "Dot..." Bob looked around, trying hard to find a way out of this situation that didn't involve taking a bullet. "Do you really want to hurt me?"

      "I..." The gun began to waver.

      "Please Dot; try to fight it."

      "N-no..." She lifted the gun again. "No...You're my enemy. I have to stop you!"

      "Dot, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you. I'm sorry he...he did this to you. If you'll just come back to me, I can make it all right. I don't know how but I will. I promise."

      Once again, the gun began to drop. "...Bob...?"

      "I love you, Dot. Please fight him; come back to me."

      "I...I must...NO!" She lifted the gun again. Before she could fire, AndrAIa stepped out of the shadows behind her, stabbing her in the neck with her fingernails.

      Dot's eyes widened. She dropped the gun and fell as the paralyzing venom ran into her. Bob rushed forward and caught her.

      "What about the game?" He asked.

      "Only one round per opponent." AndrAIa explained. "Assuming Mouse wins this round, you won't even have to dance."

      "Good." Bob said, laying Dot down. "Glitch: Anti-Virus." A golden beam of energy shot from Glitch's lens into Dot. After a few nanoseconds, he shut off the beam.

      "That should let her fight the infection for a while." He said. "But we need to get her back to the P.O. and work on her Icon."

      "Don't worry." AndrAIa said. "Mouse will have us out of here in no time."

*   *   *   *   *

      Dot woke up in a hospital bed, her brain a haze of sedatives, anti-viral medicines, and Game Sprite venom. Bob sat beside her hospital bed, holding her hand.

      "Welcome back." 

      "Bob!" She sat up and hugged him tightly, never wanting to let go. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

      "It's all right." He whispered. "It's over. It'll be all right."

      "Matrix! Is he...?"

      "He's fine."

      "Oh no!" She whispered. "Terabyte..."

      "I know. I saw her."

      "We have to go back for her, Bob."

      "What?"

      "She's innocent." Dot said. "She's just a little girl. And now...she's all alone with him." She looked into his eyes, pleading. "We have to save her."

*   *   *   *   *

TBC

*   *   *   *   * 


	5. 101- The Queen

Legal Stuff: The people at Mainframe made and own ReBoot. I just like playing around with their characters.

*   *   *   *   *

Author's note: This chapter had a LOT of errors when I first posted it. I have fixed those now. Chapter six should be out by the end of the week.

*   *   *   *   *

The Best of Both Formats

By

The 18th Angel

*   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *

101- The Queen

*   *   *   *   *

       The conference room was silent. All eyes rested on Dot, their owners stunned by her revelation.

       "Is this even possible?" AndrAIa asked.

       "I know it's hard to believe." Dot whispered. "But it's real."

       "How?" Matrix asked. "How did he..."

       "He took my code." She shook her head. "All he had to do was ask. Once I was infected...I couldn't refuse."

       "I kill him! I'll delete him for this!"

       "Right now we have to figure out how to get Terabyte out." Dot said.

       "You don't really think he'll hurt her, do you?" Mouse asked. "Ah mean, she's his daughter."

       Dot shook her head again. "He doesn't care about that." She said. "He only made her so he can become Gigabyte again. He'll drain her energy. He'll erase her just to become more powerful. As long as she's with him, she's in real, mortal danger."

       "What can we do?" AndrAIa asked.

       "Ray, can you portal in there again?" Dot asked.

       "It'd be risky." He said. "There's no way of knowing where she is. If we don't make the portal right next to her, we'll never get out alive."

       "If we can sneak in there and make a tear, either one of us can portal out." Bob said.

       "NO GOOD." They turned to where Clash stood, guarding the door. "MEGABYTE WILL HAVE FOUND ALL THE SECRET ENTRANCES BY NOW. WE CANNOT SNEAK IN AGAIN."

       "What other options do we have?" Matrix said. "Either we sneak in or we shoot our way in."

       "Either way, one or more of you is likely to get hurt." Welman said.

       "I won't risk that." Dot said firmly. "We'll just have to find another way. If I can just get to her, I know Terabyte will come with me. She's terrified of Megabyte."

       "The only problem is getting you to her then getting both of you out of the Tor alive." Bob said.

       "Whatever we do we have to do it soon." AndrAIa broke in. "If you're right about how fast she's compiling, it won't be long before she's strong enough for Megabyte to drain her."

       "I just can't believe he'd do that to his own child." Welman insisted.

       "You don't know Megabyte like we do, Dad." Matrix said. "He only cares about himself."

       "He doesn't even think of her as his child." Dot added. "She's just a tool to him. ...An expendable asset."

*   *   *   *   *

       Terabyte sat alone in her 'room', four walls and a bed. Tears ran down her cheeks and she found that, for all her strength, she was powerless to hold them back. It was all she could do to remain silent. Her father did not tolerate crying.

       But she couldn't help it. Her mother had been kidnapped. The Guardian had sent that robot to take her away. Without her, Terabyte was lost; alone. She had grown again; she wondered if her mother would even recognize her anymore. She had to be at least 1.7 now, as Sprites figured physical age.

       "Is she in there?"

       "Yes sir."

       Terabyte looked up, hurriedly wiping away her tears. Her father was out in the hallway. Sure enough, moments later, his face appeared in the doorway.

       "It's time. Come with me."

       "Yes, father." She said quietly. _Time for what?_ She wondered. But questions, like tears, were not permitted.

       He led her through the tunnels into the doctors laboratory, where she received her shots every second. But the atmosphere in the room was different this time. It seemed busier somehow, as if some kind of energy ran through the Binomes as they moved about. Purpose; that was it. Something big was going on.

       "Father...?"

       "Herr Doktor." Her father ignored her inquiry. "Are we ready?"

       "Almost Mein Kaiser. I need to make a few more adjustments to ze equipment."

       "Well hurry up. Any second now, Dot will have the Guardian back in here. I want to be ready when he arrives."

       "Ya. All will be ready, I assure you."

       Finally, Terabyte couldn't contain her curiosity. 

       "Father, what's going on?" She asked. "What's Mommy doing with the Guardian."

       Her father seemed to consider his response for a moment. "The Guardian has your mother...and he's going try to come back for you. Were going to perform a little...procedure here so we can fight him."

       "What are we going to do?"

       "You're asking too many questions."

       "But Father..."

       "Enough." He snapped, silencing her. "Herr Doktor, prepare for energy transfer. Set output rate to 505. Open the chambers."

       "Chambers?" Terabyte was beginning to get scared. Two large pods in one corner slid open, revealing operating tables, one of which was equipped with restraints.

       "I...don't need to be strapped down." She said, trying to keep her vice steady. "We're...just doing another transfusion, right? I can handle it. Really."

       "No, that cannot be allowed." The doctor told her father. "Her instincts vill take over for self-preservation before ze process is complete."

       "Self -preservation? What's going on?"

       Her father gave the doctor a look that could freeze a firewall. 

       "Do you want your mother back, Terabyte?"

       "Y-yes."

       "Then you must allow me to take back some of the energy I gave you. Otherwise I won't be strong enough to rescue her."

       "But...why can't we just go and rescue her together? I'm strong enough now, I could help..."

       "NO!" She shrank back from her father. "You are not going anywhere except into that chamber, young lady. Don't make me tell you again!"

       A memory stuck in her head; something he father had said. _That girl exists for one purpose. You're job is to keep her out of my way until she can fulfill that purpose._

       "It's going to kill me, isn't it?" She whispered. "You don't just want some of my energy; you want it all."

       "Get in the chamber."

       "How can you do this to me? I'm your daughter! Don't you care about me at all?"

       "Enough dramatics." Megabyte replied in a low growl. "Get in that chamber!"

       "No! Leave me alone!'

       Enraged, he grabbed her by the wrist and tried to drag her to his waiting death machine. "I am through asking nicely! GET INSIDE!"

       "I HATE YOU!" She twisted out of his grasp easily, fighting back her tears. "You never loved me at all did you? You've been using me since the second I was initialized! Why father? What did I do to make you hate me so much?"

       Megabyte sighed dramatically. "Oh dry your eyes, child." He yawned. "You're breaking my heart."

       And suddenly, her eyes were dry...dry and burning with rage. Without a word, before she could think long enough to reconsider, Terabyte reached out and plunged one fist into her father's chest. Her hand ripped through layers of metal and wire, eventually closing around his CPU. She grinned up at him coldly as the first real terror he had felt in a long time filled his eyes.

       "Not yet." She jerked her hand back, taking Megabyte's CPU with it.

       Megabyte fell to the floor. He was still alive, but not for long. Terabyte turned to his minions, all of whom had been so eager to delete her for his sake.

       "Dispose of that." She ordered. The Binomes closest to her took that as an opportunity to get further away and began dragging the body out of the lab. "Anyone who wants to beg for forgiveness can stay. The rest of you had better be out of here by the time they're done."

       In the corner of her eye, Terabyte saw the doctor trying to sneak away. She reached a hand out and grabbed him with invisible force, pulling him toward her.

       "You were in on this from second one, weren't you?"

       "Neine! I vas only following orders!"

       "Here's the deal Herr Doktor." She said in a low, menacing whisper. "We're going to get my mother back from the Guardian. I want a list of every power at my disposal in my hands by the end of the second, or so help me, I will have you 'researching' the inside of a tear! _Verstehen_?"

       "Ya! Ya, My Queen! It vill be done!"

*   *   *   *   *

       Dot found Bob in the Read Only Room. He and Enzo sat together at the table, looking through the archives.

       "What about this, Bob?" Enzo said, pointing to his vidwindow. "A Hidden File command."

       "It's a good idea Enzo." Bob said. "But you have to stand absolutely still for it to work."

       "Oh." Enzo said dejectedly.

       "Don't worry." Bob assured him. "We'll just keep looking."

       "Hard at work I see." Dot said.

       "Dot!" Enzo jumped up and ran to hug her. "Bob and I were just looking for ways to get in there and stomp old Megabreath! Did you come to help?"

       "Actually, I thought you might like to take a break." Dot said, handing him a few units. "Why don't you run down to the Diner and get some energy shakes?"

       "Sure Dot." Enzo gave her another hug and ran out.

       "You didn't tell him?" Bob asked as soon as Enzo was gone.

       "About Terabyte?" She asked. Bob nodded. "I didn't know how. I still don't."

       "I know." Bob said, taking her hand as she sat down. "I won't lie to you...I think it's going to be hard on him. But he's a lot stronger than he seems and..."

       "Is it...hard on you?"

       "What?"

       "I mean...I've been telling you all that we have to rescue Terabyte, and I never even thought how you...how all of you might feel."

       "You think we don't want to help her?"

       "Well she's...she's Megabyte's child. I can't help loving her...but you..."

       "Listen to me." Bob said. "She's a child. And she's in danger. I have to help her however I can."

       "Yes because of the Guardian Protocol. But..."

       "No." Bob said. "Because you asked me to."

*   *   *   *   *

       They had dropped him at the edge of G-Prime. His loyal followers, suddenly not so loyal. Swimming through the haze of pain, he had managed to drag himself to his feet and stagger toward the center of the city. His CPU, the source of his power, had been destroyed. His only hope for survival now lay in the Core.

       The citizens of Mainframe ran and hid as he passed them on the street. He would have laughed if the pain in his empty chest were not so intense. Staggering, barely able to remain upright, bleeding his last drops of energy all over the sidewalk, he could still fill the little Binomes with dread.

       The Principal Office lay ahead of him. He paused in front of the main bridge. He had to get into the Core, but it wasn't likely that they would let him simply walk in. And he couldn't fight them in his condition.

       A terrify and humiliating realization came to Megabyte. His experiment, like so many before her, had gone out of control. But this time there would be no recovery, no second chance. He was going to die. Megabyte gritted his teeth and stepped out onto the bridge. He couldn't survive this time; but before it was all over, he had a message for the Guardian. And for Dot.

*   *   *   *   *

       "So...If it wasn't Terabyte, then what's been bothering you?" Dot asked.

       "Bothering me?"

       She nodded. "You've been distant ever since I got back; Mouse said you tried to put a hole in your living room wall... I thought you were just upset about Terabyte. If that's not the case, then what's the problem?"

       Bob sighed. "It's something I haven't thought about in a long time." He said. "I...I think that, losing you...made me think of Annie again."

       "Annie?" Dot asked.

       "My sister. Anne Interface." He smiled, remembering. "I was the only one who called her Annie."

       Dot was speechless for a moment. In all the time they had known each other, Bob had never mentioned having a sister. Now that she thought about it, she knew almost nothing about his family. 

       "Is she...?"

       "She's alive." He said. "Sort of. She's in a quarantine cell in the Supercomputer, under constant sedation."

       "What happened to her?"

       "My father was a Guardian." Bob said. "So was his father, and his father's father...you get the idea. One second, Dad fought a Virus called Centry. He thought he deleted her, but...that night, she followed him home. This time he killed her...but not before she infected Annie. There was nothing we could do for her. The Guardians just...put her in quarantine, in case there was ever a way to remove the infection. ...I was 0.4 when they took my sister away. Annie was only 1.0."

       "Bob..." She left her seat and put her arms around him, trying to offer what comfort she could.

       "It...basically destroyed my family. Mom blamed Dad; Dad blamed himself... And Steven, that's my brother...Steven and I just got...caught in the middle. I know my parents still loved us. And they still loved each other. I think they were just afraid that showing it would invite tragedy."

       "Oh, Bob" She couldn't think of anything to say. No words would make it better. Instead, she held him tighter and let him continue.

       "Things...got better when I went to the Academy. At least I thought so. But when I came home on vacation...I realized just how far apart we'd become. Especially Steven and me. We can't even talk to each other any more without fighting. I haven't seen him since before the war. And the strangest thing is, we never even know what we're fighting over. I never understood why...the one thing that made it necessary for us to be close, is the thing that tore us apart." He shook his head, as if trying to shake off the bad memories.

       "I couldn't save Annie. I know I was just a kid, but I felt like it was my responsibility to protect her. And then...when I couldn't save you, it was like it was happening all over again. I guess that...did something to me. I guess I...kind of lost it."

       "It wasn't your fault." Dot said. "What happened to Annie wasn't your fault and what happened to me wasn't your fault." 

       They were silent for a moment. She could see in Bob's eyes that he knew she was right. But accepting that and believing it in his heart would take a lot longer. Their eyes met, and everything they had both gone through seemed to crash down upon them. Every lonely second when they were parted suddenly burned bright in their memories. 

       "Dot..."

       "I know."

       They both realized the truth at the exact same moment. They were meant to be together, as surely as two Sprites ever were. They couldn't be apart any more. Steadily, the moved closer together. Just as their lips met, a vidwindow popped up over the table.

       Matrix seemed surprised, and a little embarrassed, by the view that greeted him, but he clearly had important information because he collected his thoughts quickly.

       "Bob, I think you should come out here. Right now." He said urgently. 

       "What is it?" Bob asked.

       "It's Megabyte."

       "He's attacking?"

       Matrix hesitated. "...He's dying."

*   *   *   *   *

       They had Megabyte propped up against a wall outside the Principal Office. As Matrix had indicated, he was on the verge of deletion, and it was easy to see why. A steady stream of energy flowed from a gaping hole in his chest. Every few nanos, his bitmap faded briefly into transparency.

       "You found him like this?" Bob asked.

       "He was dragging himself across the bridge." Matrix said. "He said he had something important that he had to tell you. I would have just deleted him...but I figured it'd be kinda redundant."

       Bob frowned and knelt down next to Megabyte.

       "What did you want to tell me, Megabyte?" He said. "Better make it quick, I'd say you haven't got a lot of time left."

       "Don't...mock me...Bob." Megabyte gasped. "I just came here...to tell you...that you are all dead!"

       "Looked in a mirror lately?" Matrix asked. "You're the one with the sucking chest wound."

       "Who did this to you?" Bob asked.

       "I believe...you've already made her acquaintance." The dying Virus said. He looked up at Dot. "We have...a very...disobedient child...My Dear."

       The light in his eyes went out and he slumped back against the wall.

       "Terabyte..." Dot said, horrified. "She did this."

       "I thought you said she was just a little girl." Matrix said.

       "She must be fully compiled now." Dot said. "He must have tried to take her energy."

       "And she fought back." Bob finished her thought.

       "Go Terabyte." Matrix said.

       "Let's get him inside."

       "What?" Matrix yelled.

       "I just had a thought." Bob said. "Our facility is as good as the one in the Supercomputer. So why haven't our doctors been able to heal Phong? I think Megabyte took a big piece of Phong's code when he stabbed him. That explains how he was able to lock Mouse out of the war room _and_ why Phong hasn't gotten better. All the medicine in the Net can't help him if his code is missing. We need to keep him alive at least until we can get that code back."

*   *   *   *   *

       He awoke. That was the first big surprise; he hadn't expected that to happen. The next surprise was that he was in the Principal Office. And the third surprise was that he was strapped down.

       "I knew you wouldn't let me die, Guardian." He said, for Bob had to be somewhere in the room. "Too sentimental."

       "Actually it was nothing like that." Bob replied from across the room. "You just had something we needed to get back."

       "Ah so you figured out my little bit of larceny did you?" He chuckled. "Good wasn't it? Phong is the brains behind Mainframe, without him the system will crumble with or without me."

       "Then I guess it's too bad for you that we retrieved his code in time. He's doing much better now, resting comfortably, in case you're interested."

       "Not particularly." Megabyte said. "So then why, pray tell, am I still on-line?"

       "You said we were all dead, didn't you?" Bob asked.

       "That's right, Guardian. My daughter will be destroying you all presently."

       "I'll never get you, Megabyte. You don't claim her as your daughter until _after_ she rips your heart out?"

       Megabyte had to grin despite himself. "She's more vicious than I gave her credit for." He said.

       "Then I guess we'll need you to help us stop her."

       "Now Bob, that's not nice. You and I both know that I am not long for this Net."

       "I thought about that." Bob stepped out of the shadows. Megabyte could see him rolling a small disk over his knuckles. It was too big to be a coin, what was it... An Icon!

       "What are you doing with that?"

       "Oh this?" Bob held up the Icon. "This is for you. You see when Hex; you remember Hex, don't you? Well, we ran a medical on her when she became a Sprite and it turns out that the process created an entirely new bitmap for her. It removed all the wounds you gave her, in fact." 

       He placed the Icon on Megabyte's chest. The black and white disk rotated once before sinking partially into Megabyte's armor.

       "You can't do this to me Guardian!" Megabyte said. "You're not that cruel! This is a fate..."

       "A fate worse than deletion, I remember." Bob leaned over and whispered menacingly, even hatefully, to him. "And that is exactly what you deserve." With a quick tug, he disconnected the IV that had kept energy running into Megabyte.

       "I'll be back in a millisecond." Bob said, heading for the exit. "By the time I return, I expect you'll be a...new man."

*   *   *   *   *

       "Let's see...useless, useless, depressingly useless...ugh, just disgusting..." Terabyte turned angrily on her new subjects. "Did my father do *anything* worthwhile in his life or did he just spend all his time on idiotic science projects?"

       "Well My Queen..." One of the Binomes began.

       "No, don't answer that! I don't really want to know..."

       "Yes My Queen!"

       Terabyte rolled her eyes and went back to searching her father's belongings. Most of his personal effects had been destroyed when the building above them exploded; one of these seconds she would have to find out how that happened. Everything else he had valued was stored in one room on the seventh level of the tunnels. Her first act after instilling the necessary fear in her late father's followers to assure their loyalty was to make a concerted effort to see if he had left her anything useful.

       So far, however, all she had found were a bunch of inane plans for draining game energy, harnessing tears, and creating hybrid file types. Actually that last one interested her a little bit for reasons she didn't understand...but felt she should. Her failure to find anything she could use against her enemies was maddening, infuriating. All she wanted was to have her mother with her, but that damn robot had stolen her and given her to the Guardian. Her mother's abduction, followed by the revelation of her father's evil intentions, left her feeling hollow and alone. The only way she could be happy would be to rescue her mother.

       She found a small safe in the corner with an elaborate file lock on it. A casual squeeze crushed the lock, allowing the safe to swing open. Inside were a few more plans, perhaps his *really* good schemes, a small bottle of some strange liquid, and a box. The plans were useless to her so she ignored them. 

       Examining the bottle revealed it to be something called I/O; aged eighteen hours, whatever that meant. It had been locked in the safe so it had to be good for something. Terabyte opened the bottle, wincing at the strong fumes that arose from within. She took a long drink and nearly dropped the bottle. 

       The harsh liquid burned all the way down her throat. Tears sprung to her eyes. Part of her wanted to gag but she resisted, absolutely certain that the I/O would be just as bad coming up as it had been going down, if not worse. She coughed violently until the burning subsided. No wonder this stuff was locked away; it was poison. 

       Before she could throw the bottle away, write her father off as a complete psychopath, and begin searching for an antidote, a strange feeling came over her. It started in her stomach and radiated through her entire bitmap; a warm, pleasant feeling that set her limbs tingling. She looked at the bottle again with a new respect. If this was some kind of poison, it provided a very merciful deletion. She took another drink. Being prepared helped her cope better with the burning sensation of drinking the I/O. Oddly, the drink seemed to have the effect of removing her sadness. The burning liquid melted away fear, sorrow, and loneliness, leaving behind only anger, and its dark cousin hatred.

       After another comforting pull from the bottle, Terabyte turned her attention on the final item in the safe. It was a small, velvet lined jewelry box, slightly bigger than an Icon. She opened the box and gasped. 

       A small, black jewel lay in the box. Delicate bands of gold flowed across the jewel's surface, never resting for even a nano. Instantly, recognition flooded her mind, telling Terabyte exactly what this object was. And what she had to do with it.

       "Oh Daddy..." She whispered. "You were holding out on me."

*   *   *   *   *

       "I still can't believe it." AndrAIa said. "That's Megabyte?"

       The Sprite seated before them, handcuffed to his chair, certainly didn't look like the Viral overlord who had terrorized her as a child. She had to look very closely to see anything besides an angry, muscular Sprite in his late 3.0s. It was the eyes that convinced her. His dark blue skin and bright red hair helped, but it was the neon green eyes and fiery pupils that convinced her.

       "I assure you, child, this is only a temporary condition." Megabyte said bitterly. 

       "No one's afraid of you anymore." Mouse said. "You might wanna start gettin' used to that."

       "Tell us about Terabyte." Bob said.

       "What about her?"

       "What did you do to her?" Dot yelled.

       "You knew the plan as well as I, My Dear." Megabyte said.

       "_Stop_ calling me that!"

       "So you tried to drain her and she took exception." Bob said.

       "That's correct." Megabyte said.

       "So explain to me again the part where she going kill all of _us_? Seems to me you're the only one she has issues with."

       "Oh really Bob? I suppose you didn't have her mother kidnapped, then?" Megabyte grinned. "She hates you just as much as she hates me."

*   *   *   *   *

       Terabyte stretched her arms and legs, enjoying the feel of her new clothes. All her father had ever given her were robes made of some rough fabric. She had sent a few of her subjects to the nearest clothing store to bring her something more to her liking. They obviously had difficulty deciding; they had brought her a tailor.

       A quick infection and three milliseconds of fitting later, she found herself in the most comfortable outfit she had ever worn. She had picked out a pair of leather pants that fit like a second skin and a blue silk shirt. The short sleeves were slit at the top, held together with two small knots. Another slit just below the neck allowed her to feel the comforting presence of her family heirloom, which she wore on a short chain around her neck, against her skin.

       Finally, satisfied with her wardrobe, she turned to her childhood tormenter.

       "Well Herr Doktor? What do you have for me?"

       "Well My Queen. You have all ze powers of a Class 5 Super Virus; flight, claws, transfinite..."

       "Yes I know all that!" She snapped. "I've been me for a while now."

       "Of course. Forgive me, My Queen."

       "That's the decision I'm trying to make, remember?"

       The doctor's eye widened in fear. "Uh...in...in addition to your...considerable Viral powers, we have five legions of Binome troopers, sixty ABC units, und..."

       "Mobilize them all." Terabyte said. "We attack the Principal Office tonight!"

       The doctor nodded gratefully and ran to alert the troops.

       "Hang in there Mommy." She said quietly. "I'm coming to save you."

*   *   *   *   *

TBC

*   *   *   *   * 


	6. 110- The Battle

Legal Stuff: The people at Mainframe made and own ReBoot. I just like playing around with their characters.

*   *   *   *   *

The Best of Both Formats

By

The 18th Angel

*   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *

110- The Battle

*   *   *   *   *

      Matrix stood on top of the Principal Office, observing G-Prime through a pair of binoculars.

      "It's too quiet over there." He muttered.

      "You're putting a lot of faith in Megabyte, aren't you?" AndrAIa asked. "Just taking his word for it that she'll attack."

      "It's not that I trust him, believe me." Matrix said. "But it _would_ be just like him to turn Terabyte against Bob. I want to be ready if she decides to come here."

      "Matrix, we have all our sensors on G-Prime. If a null moves in there we'll see it." She hugged him gently from behind. "Why are you really up here, Sparky?"

      "Because I don't trust myself not to delete him." Matrix said quietly. "I...I know Bob's right. Living as a Sprite is the worst punishment for Megabyte. But every time I see him I...I just remember everything he did, all the misery he put us through, what he did to Dot... I can't even think about him without wanting to kill, there's no way I can be around him yet."

*   *   *   *   *

      "I'm getting sick of this, Megabyte." Bob said. "I don't want you to spout off threats and insults; I want a specific answer. How big a threat is Terabyte?"

      "Bigger than anything you've ever faced."

      "Okay, that's is _not_ a specific answer!"

      Megabyte sighed. "Imagine a Class 5 Super Virus with all of Miss Matrix's cunning and foresight. Now imagine that she loves only one thing in the entire Net. Furthermore, imagine that she holds you personally responsible for her losing that one thing. How big of a threat is that, Guardian?"

      "You made her, Megabyte. What's her weakness?"

      "She's young." He said. "She's barely a minute old. Intellectually she's quite advanced, but she's still a child emotionally. You may be able to take advantage of that."

      "Will she use the troops? ABCs, shock troopers?"

      "She is Dot's daughter." Megabyte replied. "She will use anything at her disposal."

      "Will your troops follow her?"

      "In all likelihood, she now has control over them through inherited infection." Megabyte said. "If not, I'm sure she's frightened them into submission. Either way, I'd prepare for a rather substantial fight."

      "Fine." Bob turned to go. "I may be back with more questions later."

      "When she gets here, you will let me out."

      "You're not in a position to give orders." Bob said.

      "I know you're too soft to delete her, no matter what she does. And Matrix doesn't have what it takes to get the job done, as much as I know he'd like to." Megabyte said. "But that's all right. I'll be more than happy to do the honors."

      "Get something straight, Megabyte." Bob said. "We're not deleting anyone!"

      "I don't think you understand..."

      "I understand that the only reason Terabyte is so angry is because of what you were going to do to her. I'm not going to let you delete a confused child just because she didn't turn out the way you wanted her to."

      "She's not a person, Bob. She's not a Sprite; she's not a Virus. She's just a thing, another experiment gone awry."

      Bob had to fight the urge to punch Megabyte right in his smug face. Instead he just shook his head. "Well I guess the rest of us value life a bit more than you do. Of course we've known that for a while now, haven't we?"

      "How long are you going to keep me locked up in here, Guardian?" Megabyte called after him as he left the room. 

      "As soon as we take care of Terabyte, you can go." Bob said. "Until then, why not use this time to think about your life?"

      "Why?"

      "Well the whole 'Viral Overlord' racket isn't really open to you anymore. Maybe this is your chance to do something worthwhile with your life."

      "What? Become a good and productive member of society? 'Mend and Defend' like you do?" Megabyte laughed. "Not likely. If nothing else, I'll do everything in my power to be as big a thorn in your side as I can."

      Bob rolled his eyes. "Well that's a really childish attitude Megabyte; good for you."

*   *   *   *   *

      "Enzo?" Dot called softly, hoping he was home.

      "Hey Dot!" Enzo ran out of his room and hugged her. He had been a lot more affectionate since she got back from the Tor, understandably. When he first appeared after the Restart, no one knew exactly how to treat the 'new' Enzo. But for herself, Dot felt she had been given a second chance. If she couldn't protect the original Enzo from the hardship and pain that had turned him into Matrix, she could at least keep the same thing from happening to this Enzo.

      Daemon had shot down that theory. In the end, the fate of the entire Net had been placed on Enzo's shoulders. And though he had stepped up to the challenge admirably, life wasn't through toying with Enzo Matrix yet. It seemed that whenever he was about to settle back into being a normal kid, something new came and ruined it for him. First Daemon forced him to fight again. Then there was the problem of two Bobs. For although he would never let anyone see it, Dot knew that Enzo had suffered just as much self-doubt as Bob, wondering if being a copy somehow made him less worthwhile than the original. And before he even had time to recover from that, Megabyte returned and tried to destroy everything they had worked so hard to rebuild.

      And now Dot had to drop another bomb into Enzo's life. She didn't know how he was going to react, or if he would even understand the meaning of what Megabyte had done to her. But he had to know. Terabyte was dangerous. It wasn't her fault; she was alone, frightened, and confused. But until they could recover her, she was a danger to everyone, except perhaps Dot herself. Enzo had a right to know what might be coming after him.

      "Enzo..." She knelt down to talk to him at eye level. "There's...something I have to tell you."

*   *   *   *   *

      "I want all units to converge on the Principal Office from every direction. Distract them while I get inside. You are my decoys to occupy the main force. As such, I do not expect you to achieve air supremacy. Maintain the illusion that the CPUs can win the battle. DO NOT under _any_ circumstance force them to retreat! I need the Principal office empty of soldiers while I access the Core."

      The pilots saluted and made a run for their ABCs. 

      "But, but My Queen." The doctor said. "I thought ze plan was to retrieve Frau Matrix und..."

      "There has been a change of plans." Terabyte said. Her hand drifted up to the jewel hanging from her neck. "I need the energy of the Core...for something very important. We can rescue Mommy once I'm done."

*   *   *   *   *

      AndrAIa had finally convinced Matrix to put his binoculars down and join her on the ledge overlooking Mainframe. The system was beautiful at night, lit up like a blanket of stars. She sighed happily, leaning against Matrix.

      "I've missed this." She said.

      "Hmm?"

      "Just sitting, not doing anything, not fighting. Remember those few cycles after the Restart, before we started going after Daemon? We used to sit up here all night."

      "I remember." Matrix said. "I miss it too."

      "Do you think we'll ever be able to do this again? For real I mean, without having anything to worry about?"

      "I guess that's up to Terabyte."

      "She bothers you, doesn't she?" He looked away, silent. "Hello? Net to Enzo?"

      "What bothers me...is how I feel about her. It bothers me that I wish she didn't exist."

      "What do you mean?"

      "If this all works out, and Terabyte...If Dot can bring her back..." He shook his head. "I don't know how I feel about that. I just know that she's alive...because my sister was raped. Maybe not technically but...Megabyte took something from Dot that she didn't want to give him; that she never would have given him on her own. And Terabyte is the result. And I understand none of this is Terabyte's fault but even so...I don't know if I'll be able to look at her...without hating her as much as I hate him."

      "I know you won't." AndrAIa said. "You're not the type to hate someone for something that isn't their fault. You know that, right?"

      "If you say it, I believe it." Matrix said. "You always did have a habit of finding my good side." 

      She smiled and kissed him. "Well one of us has to."

*   *   *   *   *

      Dot sat next to Phong's hospital bed. He was stable and the doctors predicted a full recovery. But he wasn't in any condition to talk. And right now, Dot desperately needed his advice.

      "I don't know what to do." She said, more to herself than to Phong. "I thought if Terabyte could just see me everything would be fine. But after what she did to Megabyte... She's not the person I thought she was; not anymore."

      "Uh...Ma'am?" She turned to see Specky standing in the door, looking frightened. "The sensors just picked up ABCs leaving G-Prime."

      "How many?" Dot asked.

      "It...it looks like all of them!"

*   *   *   *   *

      "Are those ABCs?" AndrAIa asked.

      Matrix bolted to his feet and zoomed his eye in on G-Prime. Sure enough, an entire fleet of ABCs was taking to the air. Out in front of the group flew an open-topped search engine. A young woman stood on the bow. Matrix had never seen her before, but he knew who she was all the same. The green skin, the red crest, the glowing green eyes; it was Terabyte, fully compiled and leading an army to the Principal Office.

      His vision turned red as his eye slipped unconsciously into targeting mode. AndrAIa was wrong. Just looking at Terabyte made him want to kill.

      "She's here."

*   *   *   *   *

      "Break formation." Terabyte ordered her troops. "Surround the Principal Office."

      At her command, the ABCs split up and took their positions around the dome shaped Principal Office. Terabyte nodded to her pilot, who angled the transport down to the main bridge that led up to the front door.

      As the ship descended, she held up her family heirloom, staring into it's flowing surface. Her father had never understood the real reason he made her. Neither did her mother. But soon she would see. The entire net would see.

*   *   *   *   *

      "They have us surrounded!" Specky cried.

      "Commander, get your people in the air." Dot ordered. "Keep those ABCs at bay!"

      "Yes Sir, Ma'am!" The commander saluted and shut off the vidwindow.

      "Okay Dot." Bob said. "Now what?"

      "We need to find Terabyte." Dot said. "I have to talk her out of this...somehow."

      Bob nodded. "Glitch: Map Overlay; Viral Energy readout." Glitch's lens projected a red dot onto the tactical map, right outside the Principal Office. "She's coming right up to the front door." 

      "Oh no!" Dot cried, running for the elevator. "Matrix!"

*   *   *   *   *

      No one tried to stop Terabyte as she crossed the bridge to the Principal Office. The sky was full of exploding ships as the CPUs scrambled to engage her army. Terabyte stepped up to the huge doors leading into the Principal Office. Suddenly, she sensed a presence above her. The sound of something big sliding down the domed roof of the P.O. reached her ears. She leaped backwards just as a huge, green Sprite landed where she had been standing.

      The Sprite stood up, towering over her and glaring at her with his one good eye. The other, a golden cybernetic implant, rolled around in its socket, revealing a glowing red 'M'. His hand drifted down to the huge gun attached to his hip.

      "You're Terabyte. Aren't you?" He said quietly.

      "I am." She replied. "And you must be Matrix." 

      The big guy seemed surprised that she knew who he was. "My late father had a rather extensive file on you." She explained. "You're arrogant, impulsive, bad-tempered, and you tend to see that gun of yours as the solution to all your problems."

      "Hey, whatever works."

      "Well by all means, Uncle; use your gun. I can tell you want to." She spread her arms. "Go ahead. I won't even dodge."

      "I'm not gonna kill you." He said. "But I can't let you in there." He gestured to the P.O.

      "Well that's a problem, Uncle Matrix." Terabyte said. "I have business in the Core; and nothing short of deletion will keep me out."

      Matrix hesitated briefly before acting. "Gun!" The gun leaped into his hand. "Crowd control!"

      A hard rubber slug shot out of the gun and slammed into her. An ordinary Sprite would have been knocked on her ASCII, and probably rendered unconscious, by the force of the slug. But Terabyte was no ordinary Sprite. The rubber bullet bounced harmlessly off her chest.

      "You'll need to do better than that if you want to stop me." She said, giggling slightly.

      "High Ex!" This was a real bullet, with an explosive tip. As it streaked toward her, Terabyte suddenly unlocked a new ability; one she hadn't even realized she had. Her skin ripped and fell away painlessly as dark blue armor grew out of every pore. By the time the bullet reached her, Terabyte was covered in a protective layer of metal.

      The bullet exploded on contact, enveloping her in a giant fireball. When the fire subsided, her clothes had been burned away, leaving only her new armor to cover her. Relaxing a bit, she retracted the armor on her head. Her skin and hair grew back instantly in its place. 

      "Is that it?"

      Matrix was getting desperate now. He raised the gun once again. "Spread-Focus Burst! Single Target!" Terabyte reformed her helmet as dozens of bullets shot from the gun. Each bullet exploded as it struck her, surrounding her with smoke and fire. But when the smoke cleared, there wasn't a scratch on her.

      "That's strike three." She grinned. Before Matrix could react, she was upon him. Her first strike sent the gun flying over the bridge. She swept one leg out, catching Matrix just below the knees. a swift blow to the chest left him gasping for breath. 

      "I could delete you right now if I wanted to." She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "But you're family, so I'll let you live...this time."

      She took a step for the door and paused. "And everywhere that Matrix went..." Stepped calmly to the side and dispatched AndrAIa with a kick right below the ribs before she had even landed. "His Game Sprite was sure to go."

      It seemed those two were the only defenders the Principal Office had. Terabyte flung open the doors with a wave of her hand. A darkened hallway greeted her. 

      "All right." She said to herself. "If I was the Core, where would I be?"

      She didn't notice Matrix sitting up painfully. She didn't hear him speaking. "Gun. Return." And she didn't see him aim the gun and place a red target on her back just as she disappeared into the darkened hall.

*   *   *   *   *

      Dot ran for the main hall, but she knew she would arrive to late to stop whatever was going to happen. Sure enough, the main doors were open and the main hall was empty.

      "Enzo!" She ran to the door. Matrix was there, on the steps, limping slightly as he helped AndrAIa to her feet. A huge, ugly bruise was forming on AndrAIa's abdomen. Matrix seemed to be favoring his right arm in addition to limping. 

      "What happened?" Dot asked.

      "It's Terabyte." Matrix said. "She's inside."

      Dot turned to run.

      "Dot." Matrix stopped her. "Take Gun."

      "I'm not going to shoot her!" Dot said.

      "I know. I put a target on her. It'll lead you right to her."

      "Thanks." She took Gun from him. 

      "Dot." AndrAIa said. "She's completely lost it, she might even try to hurt you. Be careful."

      Dot nodded. "Gun; tracking." She let Gun lead her back into the Principal Office. She ran into Bob coming the other way.

      "Dot! What are you doing?"

      "Come on." She said. "We're going to find Terabyte!"

      "I thought she was outside."

      "Not anymore!"

*   *   *   *   *

      "You know you don't really need to be here, I'm restrained quite securely."

      Mouse pretended not to hear Megabyte, pretending instead to focus on her laptop. She was only playing solitaire, but Megabyte didn't need to know that.

      "Are you listening to me, hacker?"

      "You wouldn't believe how much Ah'm not."

      "You know, it's rather pointless for you to be here guarding me when the real threat is out there."

      "Maybe so, but for some reason we've gotta keep you from gettin' yourself killed tryin' to kill Terabyte."

      "Mercifully, she was saved from further conversation when a portal opened next to them. Ray stepped out, Enzo right behind him. 

      "What are you doin'?" Mouse demanded. "Don't go bringin' him in here!"

      "His Dad asked me to." Ray said. "This is the safest place right now."

      Mouse sighed. "Fine. Whatever."

      "Don't worry Mouse." Enzo said. "I'll be quite."

      "See that ya do, sugah." She smiled. "Things could get intense here."

      "Yeah." He seemed to notice a fourth Sprite in the room for the first time. "Hey, who's the big ugly blue guy?"

      Before Mouse could answer, Megabyte rose up out of his chair and grabbed Enzo, delivering a quick punch to Ray's Surfbaud in the process. The Surfr crumpled and Megabyte took Enzo by the neck.

      "Hey!" Enzo cried out in alarm.

      "Let him go Megabyte!" Mouse yelled, drawing her sword.

      "Megabyte?" Enzo gulped. "You're...Megabyte?"

      "Back off Hacker." Megabyte ignored his hostage and glared at Mouse. "I broke through the handcuffs, I assure you I could snap the boy's neck quite easily!"

      "What are you doin' Megabyte?"

      "I'm taking responsibility for my actions. Isn't that what Sprites are supposed to do?" He sneered. "I made a mistake, and now she's heading for the Core. Since none of you are willing to dispose of this mistake, the task falls to me."

*   *   *   *   *

      The Core chamber lay before her. She could feel the energy surging just on the other side of the door. She had met no further resistance since the front door. Now she just had to get into the Core. She wasn't a registered system resident, so the door wouldn't open for her. But she didn't _need_ access to get a door open.

      Raising her hands in front of her, Terabyte concentrated on her fingers. As she watched, the armor on her fingertips pulled back as her fingernails thickened and lengthened into razor-sharp claws. Two quick slashes ripped the heavy door off its hinges. 

      A blast of energy struck her. She drank it in like a woman lost in the desert. She could feel the power surging through her already and she hadn't even gone inside yet. The jewel around her neck seemed to sing to her, drawing her forward, closer and closer to the core.

*   *   *   *   *

      They arrived at the entrance to the Core chamber, and not a nanosecond too soon. Terabyte was stepping toward the core itself. At least, it looked like Terabyte. She was covered in blue armor, like Megabyte used to have, but her head was uncovered. The red metal crest rising out of a mass of dark green hair convinced Dot that this was her daughter. Looking closely, she saw Matrix's target on Terabyte's left shoulder.

      "We have to stop her, Bob!"

      Bob nodded. "Glitch: Lockdown!" Glitch's lens flew off and turned into a wire mesh that glided past Terabyte and surrounded the core, blocking its energy. Terabyte spun around to face them, fury in her eyes.

      "You!" She yelled, staring straight at Bob. "Get away from her!"

      "Terabyte, please stop this." Dot said. "Bob didn't kidnap me, he helped me."

      "No!" The girl screamed. "He took you away from me! And then father... He tried to kill me!"

      "I know." Dot began. "He..."

      "You knew?" Terabyte whispered. "You were...part of it too?"

      "No." Dot said. "I wasn't."

      "You're lying. You knew...all along."

      "Listen to me Terabyte." Dot said. "I knew...but there was nothing I could do. I wasn't in control of myself."

      "So...you never wanted me either. You only loved me because you were infected."

      "No. That's not..."

      "That's entirely correct." Megabyte stepped around the corner, his arm around Enzo's neck. "I forced her to care for you."

      "Father?" Terabyte whispered. "But...how...?"

      "You didn't think you could delete me did you?" Megabyte sighed. "As disappointing as ever."

      "What are you doing?" Dot demanded.

      "Ah'm sorry, Dot!" Mouse said, running up behind them. "He broke the cuffs!"

      "The girl deserves to know the truth, My Dear." Megabyte said. He turned to Terabyte. "She never loved you any more than I did. How could she? Who could ever love you?"

      "Stop it!" Bob yelled. "Why are you doing this?"

      "Fine." Terabyte whispered. Tears filled her eyes. "Then you'll all die. AND THE NET WILL DIE WITH YOU!" She grabbed the jewel hanging from her neck and ripped it off. She held it up so Megabyte could see it. The Ex-Virus's eyes filled with dread.

      "You know what this does, don't you father?" Terabyte hissed. "You're all going to learn the price of betrayal!" She reached out a hand. Bob suddenly fell to his knees, gasping for breath. "Unlock the Core!" Terabyte yelled, tightening her psychic grip.

      "Please..." Bob gasped. "...Don't..."

      "DO IT!"

      "...Glitch..." At his word, the keytool began to return to its normal shape. As soon as the core was unlocked, Terabyte released Bob, not realizing that he hadn't finished his command. "Tear Generator!"

      Glitch's lens hadn't even made it back to Bob yet. At his command, it changed again, pulling energy out of the core and forming it into a tear. Terabyte was pulled into the tear. She screamed in pain as the tear energy burned her.

      "No!" Dot screamed. "Don't kill her!"

      "Key!" Bob yelled. The tear resolved into a portal, leading to the quarantine cell. Amazingly, Terabyte resisted. She dug her claws into the wall next to her, refusing to be pulled into the portal.

      "NO!" She yelled. "You won't imprison me! I have a job to do!"

      "Please, Terabyte." Dot said. "We don't want to hurt you. We just want to help you."

      "You're lying!"

      "I have never lied to you!" Dot yelled. "You're my daughter. I love you." She held out a hand. "Please let me help you. We can make things better, I swear."

      "You...love me?"

      "Yes." Dot said, without hesitation. "I always loved you."

      "I just...wanted to get you back." Terabyte said.

      Dot smiled through her tears. "I'm right here. We're together now."

      Terabyte smiled back. "...Mommy..."

      "Bob, let her go." Dot said. "It's okay now."

      Bob nodded reluctantly. "Glitch..." Before he could finish the command, however, the portal changed. It faded from silver to hellish orange, crossed with flowing bands of light. Terabyte screamed again as the portal began pulling her into the Web.

      "Bob!" Dot screamed.

      "I didn't do it!" 

      "Make it stop!"

      "Glitch; Return!" Nothing happened. "GLITCH; STOP!" Nothing. He looked into her eyes, helpless. "I can't."

      "Mommy!" Terabyte reached out as tentacles erupted from the portal, wrapping around her and dragging her back. "Help!" She swatted helplessly at the tentacles. "Let me go! PLEASE LET ME GO! NO!"

      Dot ran to grab her but Bob held her back. Anything she did to help would only get her pulled into the Web as well. Terabyte's last scream echoed through the core long after the portal had enveloped her completely and collapsed. Dot sank to the floor, weeping.

      "Glitch; return." Bob said quietly. With the portal gone, Glitch returned to normal form immediately. He couldn't figure out what had happened. A portal couldn't just change like that. 

      "Well, that was easier than I imagined." Bob turned to see Megabyte standing by the control panel, still holding Enzo by the collar. "I used to think you really accomplished something when you did that to me, Mouse."

      "You...you did this?" Dot whispered. She stood up. "Why?" She sobbed. "How could you do that?"

      "Well it was rather easy." Megabyte said. "There's this dial here that controls the frequency of..."

      "Get out!" Dot yelled. "Get out of here before I kill you!"

      Shaking his head, Megabyte dropped Enzo and headed back to the main hallway. Bob hesitated a moment, then crossed the room to where Dot knelt. Tentatively, he put his arms around her. Dot responded immediately leaning against him and burying her face in his chest. 

      "It's not right..." She sobbed. "She deserved...so much better."

      "I'm sorry." Bob whispered. "I'm so sorry."

      They stayed like that for several microseconds. Bob held Dot until all her tears were spent. Then they stood up and left the Core. Dot stopped at the doorway, casting a final glace behind.

      "It shouldn't have been like this." She whispered to her daughter, beyond hearing in the depths of the Web. "I'm sorry."

*   *   *   *   *

TBC

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	7. 111- Epilogue

Legal Stuff: The people at Mainframe made and own ReBoot. I just like playing around with their characters.

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The Best of Both Formats

By

The 18th Angel

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111- Epilogue

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      "You know you can't leave Mainframe." Bob said. "And we'll be keeping an eye on you."

      "Yes, yes. I understand." Megabyte yawned. "May I go now?"

      "Yeah, get out of here." Bob said.

      "I sense hostility, Guardian. You're not still mad are you?"

      "What, because you created a life and then destroyed it without blinking? How could I possibly still be mad about that?"

      "You can convert me into whatever format you wish Bob, but you cannot change who I am." Megabyte said. "Eventually, I will come back to haunt you."

      "Go." Bob growled. "Get out of my sight."

      Megabyte smiled and strolled calmly for the door. "Farewell Bob. I'll be seeing you around."

      Bob closed his eyes, forced himself to take calm, deep breaths, and counted to 1010. When he opened his eyes, Megabyte was gone. Bob sighed. He didn't need Megabyte to tell him that he hadn't heard the last of him.

      "Bob!" Enzo burst through the door, tackling Bob before he could say a word. "You gotta come to the hospital quick! It's amazing!  
  


*   *   *   *   *

      There was already quite a crowd around the hospital bed when Enzo dragged Bob into the room. Phong was awake, sitting up in bed and smiling at his friends. He looked up when Bob came in.

      "Ah, there you are, my son." He said. "It is good to see you again."

      "Phong." Bob whispered, smiling. "You're all right."

      "Yes. Evidently I will recover fully." Phong said. "Lucky me."

      "We thought we were gonna lose ya there for a while." Mouse said.

      "I missed you so much, Phong." Dot hugged him, careful not to disturb the wounds on his chest.

      "Well...I missed you to, child." Phong said. "Or I would have, had I been conscious."

      Dot smiled and hugged him again. It was the first time Bob had seen a smile cross her face since Terabyte vanished. Maybe things would finally get back to normal now; or as normal as they ever were in Mainframe.

      "So..." Phong said, looking around the room. "What did I miss?"

*   *   *   *   *

      They sat side by side on the bench in Kits Sector. The streetlamps turned night into twilight. Bob looked over at Dot. Phong's recovery had cheered her, but deep down inside, she was still in mourning.

      "Dot." He began. "I..."

      "What's it like?" She asked.

      "It?"

      "The Web." She turned to him. "I never wanted to know before..."

      "And you don't want to know now." Bob said.

      "I just... If you survived, and Megabyte survived..." Bob could see where this was going. "Is there any way...could she...?"

      "I don't know." Bob said.

      "Please don't lie to me Bob." Dot said. "You were there. You know what it's like."

      Bob sighed. "Megabyte and I both had Guardian code that protected us." He finally said. "She doesn't."

      "So she's deleted then?"

      "I wish things were different." Bob said. "But I don't see how she could survive. She's gone."

      Dot nodded, a few tears escaping from her eyes. "At least she's not in pain any more." She said. "She's in a better place.

*   *   *   *   *

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      System of Workstation

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      The bar was dirty, crowded, smoke filled, dimly lit, and absolutely no place for a lady. So when the tiny female Sprite stepped through the swinging doors, all eyes fell on her immediately. The bar's owner, Bryce, took a moment to study his new customer on the assumption that something bad was going to happen now that she was here. In a room full of drunken men, small, good-looking women *always* caused trouble, whether they intended to or not.

      The girl wore a long cloak with a large hood pulled up over her head. Bryce's judgment of her age was based solely on her height and build; he couldn't see enough of her to make an actual estimate of how old she was. All he could see was her face, heavily cloaked in shadows. It was a pretty face, with delicate cheekbones, a small, slightly upturned nose, and full, pouting lips. Her skin was flawless as well, bright green with just a hint of blue. A few locks of darker green, almost black, hair dangled in front of her eyes. The eyes themselves were covered with a pair of dark sunglasses that the girl did not remove despite the dim lights in the bar. If forced to guess, Bryce would have placed the girl at about 1.7, give or take an hour.

      She crossed the room, not walking so much as gliding, moving effortlessly and with impossible gracefulness. Everyone in the room followed her with their eyes. A few lecherous chuckles and catcalls arose as she made her way to the bar. She took a seat on the stool directly across from Bryce. She tapped the counter twice and looked up at him expectantly.

      "None of the cheap stuff." She finally spoke. "Real I/O."

      "You're a little young for that, aren't you Missy?"

      The mysterious Sprite smiled. "I'm old enough to know better." She almost let out a girlish giggle.

      Bryce frowned at that, but he poured the drink anyway and slid it across the bar. The girl took the glass and downed it in a single gulp. She motioned for him to pour a second shot.

      "I ain't never seen a pretty thing like you drink like that." A half-drunken Sprite said, settling down on the stool next to her.

      "Not surprising." The girl smiled. "If you live a hundred hours, you'll *never* see *anything* like me."

      "Really?" The man seemed mildly amused. "Well then how about lettin' us see a little more of you." He reached for the hood of the girl's cloak. Suddenly, the man jerked his hand back as if he had been slapped. Judging by the sound of skin striking skin, he had been. But Bryce hadn't even seen the girl move.

      "That's a no-no." She said sweetly.

      "You little bitch!" the man yelled. "How did you do that?"

      "I don't like you." The girl said. "Please go away now."

      "No way sweetheart!" The man yelled. "You tell me what you did to me!"

      Once again, Bryce didn't see the girl move, but suddenly she had the man's wrist clasped in one small hand. The drunk cried out in pain as the girl twisted his arm around, drawing on strength that a bitmap her size simply couldn't contain.

      "You're making me cranky." She said, leaning over and speaking directly to her captive. "Go away before I get mad." Her last word was punctuated by the sound of the drunk's wrist breaking. He cried out and fell to the floor. As soon as she let go, the man ran from the bar, looking over his shoulder in fear and disbelief.

      The entire bar had gone silent. The cloaked girl turned back to Bryce. She gestured toward her empty glass.

      "I'm in a wait state here."

      Bryce wasted no time in pouring her another I/O shot.

      "You know." He said. "You don't look like you need advice. But that isn't the best way to make friends."

      "I'm just having a bad second; he was making it worse." She replied, draining the glass. "I actually have a really nice personality."

      "Is that so?"

      The girl nodded. "In fact..." She reached up and removed her sunglasses, revealing a pair of pure green eyes with burning red pupils. "It's positively...infectious."

***THE END***

Author's Note: As you can probably tell from the last section, this is NOT actually the end. The story is continued in part 2; 'Queen of the Crashed', which will be appearing on FFN soon.


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